How PRP Can Help Heal Your Knee Pain

It’s all over the news and social media: Athletes looking to recover from injuries and even celebs searching for the fountain of youth are turning to platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. 

But what’s the deal with this hyped-up treatment?

In this blog, Dr. Nikhil Pandhi and our team walk you through exactly how PRP works and how it can benefit everyone, from Tiger Woods and the Kardashians to everyday folks with knee pain like you. 

Let’s start at the beginning

In 1954, researchers used platelet-rich plasma for the first time. By the 1970s, PRP was widely used and available. To understand how PRP evolved from a new-fangled idea to a household name, we have to peek through a microscope. 

Just below your skin, coursing through your veins is approximately 1.5 gallons of blood. Every last drop contains platelets, powerful cells that contain growth and healing factors. 

Plasma is the liquid base of your blood that allows blood cells, proteins, and platelets to travel easily through your bloodstream. Platelets are a special type of blood cell that assists the healing process and helps your blood clot quickly. 

We create PRP by collecting a small sample of your blood and placing it in a centrifuge. The machine spins your sample at high speed until PRP separates from the rest of your blood. We take the concentrated solution and inject it into painful, damaged areas, like your knees. 

That may not sound like an answer to knee pain until you understand the science behind this revolutionary treatment. 

PRP for knee pain

There are several possible reasons for knee pain. You may have injured it during sports, tweaked it going down the stairs, or taken a direct blow to your leg. Sometimes, knee pain stems from chronic issues, such as a slow-healing injury, a degenerative condition like arthritis, or years of overuse. In any case, your knee is inflamed, damaged, and needs healing. 

Enter PRP.

Once we inject PRP into your knee, it quickly repairs damage, reduces inflammation, and generates new, healthy cells. 

Over the days and weeks that follow, PRP wakes up your body’s natural ability to heal, and as it repairs itself, you feel less pain. 

Why you should choose PRP

PRP definitely lives up to the hype and not just because it offers fast, long-lasting healing. Our patients also love PRP because it’s minimally invasive — no scalpels or stitches required.

And, since it comes from your own blood, PRP comes with virtually zero side effects other than injection-site tenderness, so you don’t have to plan for a long recovery. 

PRP also allows you to participate in other therapies and treatments, like physical therapy.

We perform PRP injections in the comfort of our office on an outpatient basis, and your session shouldn’t take longer than an hour. 

Finally, PRP is well-tolerated and an option for almost everyone. We understand how frustrating it can be spinning your wheels trying to find a solution to knee pain, so talk to us about whether PRP is a viable option for you. 

If it isn’t, we walk you through other options, and in the most severe cases, Dr. Pandhi can recommend joint replacement surgery. 

Knee pain can stop you in your tracks, but it doesn’t have to. Call or click to schedule a consultation with Dr. Pandhi and see if you’re a candidate for PRP today.