GENERAL INFORMATION
Platelet rich plasma (also known as PRP) is a form of prolotherapy used to heal injuries in ligaments or tendons. You can read about prolotherapy here. Occasionally a an extremely potent proliferant solution is necessary to achieve the necessary level of inflammation required for adequate healing in a ligament or tendon. With PRP, the patient’s own blood is used as the proliferant solution as opposed to the standard dextrose solution in regular prolotherapy. The blood is centrifuged in a special way leaving a solution which contains a large number or platelets and this is what is injected during the procedure. The procedure itself as well as most of the risks are identical to standard prolotherapy. Although standard prolotherapy is usually accompanied by some degree of pain, the pain experienced with PRP may be more severe. This is due to the fact that PRP causes higher levels of inflammation at the site of the injury that traditional prolotherapy. Consequently, PRP is considered more effective at healing ligament and tendon injuries. Initially, PRP gained notoriety by being used on professional athletes but it has now become a popular and successful treatment throughout the general public.