PRP: Why It's a Game-Changer in Remedying Joint Pain and Injuries


Arthritis and age-related joint pain catch up with just about everyone eventually. That’s because the cartilage in your joints wears down after years of use, and the lack of lubrication and protection leaves you with inflamed tissue and joints that ache all the time and won’t move the way they used to.

While anti-inflammatory medications and pain relievers may ease the discomfort temporarily, you can bet it’ll be back again tomorrow.

That stop-gap approach to pain doesn’t cut it for Dr. Matthew DeFroda and our team here at reNu Medical & Injury Center in Newark, Delaware.

And if you’re sick and tired of masking your joint and injury pain, you’ll be relieved to hear we have a solution — platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Here’s why it could be a game-changer in your battle against chronic pain.

All-natural and all you

Given the current opioid epidemic, we don’t blame you if you want to steer clear of drugs if at all possible. One of the best things about PRP is that it uses your own body’s resources to repair itself. We just give it a helping hand.

The process is simple: A medical professional takes a sample of blood from your arm, spins it at high speed in a centrifuge to separate the individual components, then collects the isolated platelets.

Your platelets contain a super-concentrated volume of growth factors that help your blood clot and trigger new cell growth, both of which are essential to the healing process.

We don’t use any medication, there’s no surgery involved, and there are no side effects.

Delivered straight to your joint

Unlike medication, which has to go through your entire digestive system before it kicks in and eases your pain, we inject PRP directly into your aching joint, where it can begin to work right away.

You may have heard of a similar procedure called prolotherapy, an alternative that’s been around for about 100 years, but PRP differs in a very important way. Prolotherapy uses an irritant to trigger a healing response, but PRP delivers the healing response.

Accelerates healing

Next to the pain, the worst part of any injury is arguably the recovery time. While ultimately good for you, rehabilitation is a marathon, not a sprint.

Plate-rich plasma complements your rehab and accelerates the process by increasing your body’s capacity for healing and multiplying its resources.

Targets hard-to-treat ligaments and tendons

In addition to joints worn down by osteoarthritis, PRP comes to the rescue of injured ligaments and tendons that are notoriously hard to treat without surgery and typically take a long time to heal on their own.

The problem is that there is very little blood supply available to these soft tissues, so if you’ve torn or ruptured one, the road to recovery may be long and painful. Chronic conditions such as tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, and tendonitis can all benefit from PRP.

This effective regenerative approach can also help with acute injuries like an Achilles tendon rupture or a rotator cuff tear, reducing inflammation and pain and improving function.

If you’ve been living with painful joints or are struggling through a long rehabilitation process, PRP may be able to relieve the burden and speed up your recovery. To learn more about PRP, contact us today.

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