Approximately 33 million Americans suffer from the pain of osteoarthritis (OA), a type of joint degeneration due to overuse, wear-and-tear, and injury. When you have OA, you may find it difficult to accomplish tasks comfortably that you used to do without a thought. Or a twinge.
You’re more likely to develop OA as you age; it’s most common in adults over age 45. But even if OA is part of your present, it doesn’t have to be part of your future.
At the Rheumatology Center of New Jersey, our expert rheumatologists emphasize lifestyle changes, including an anti-inflammatory diet, to prevent and control OA. We also offer cutting-edge platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections to help your body repair your joints.
How can PRP be a game changer if you have OA? Here’s how PRP works with your body to help you heal.
Your body is filled with ingredients that it uses to heal everything from superficial wounds to sprained and strained tendons and muscles.
Even when your body needs medical assistance to heal properly, such as setting a fracture or closing a wound with stitches, your body’s processes are still integral to healing.
The main conduit for healing is your bloodstream. When you’re injured, your body rushes blood to the area. That’s why anything from a pinprick to a skinned knee quickly turns your skin pink and slightly swollen.
Your blood is filled with the ingredients your body needs to stanch bleeding, whisk away debris and dirt, and start to rebuild injured tissues. Platelet-rich plasma concentrates those ingredients to accelerate healing in ways your body couldn’t accomplish on its own.
The PRP serum that we inject into your aching joints is derived from your own blood. We swab your arm with antiseptic and do a blood withdrawal, similar to that for a blood test or donation. Once we have a few tablespoons of blood, we process it.
First, we double-spin the blood in a sterile centrifuge. The centrifuge separates the liquid part of your blood (i.e., the plasma) from the solids, including cell fragments called platelets.
Platelets are the healing component of your blood that helps you stop bleeding and rebuild tissue. Platelets contain:
Leukocytes may counter PRP’s anti-inflammatory effects, so we prepare a type of PRP called leukocyte-poor PRP (LP-PRP). The serum contains a high concentration of healing platelets and a minimal amount of plasma — a supercharged version of your own blood with 10 times the normal number of platelets.
We inject the PRP serum directly into your affected joints. The concentrated platelets incorporate into your tissues because they’re biocompatible.
The PRP helps your arthritis pain through two basic mechanisms. First, the cytokines help subdue the inflammation that causes swelling, stiffness, and pain.
The next benefit of the PRP is that it starts to integrate with the cartilage tissues in your joints. Cartilage is tissue that’s blood-vessel poor, so it usually can’t repair or regenerate on its own.
With the addition of PRP, though, your cartilage may begin to rebuild and repair itself.
A PRP treatment is especially helpful in the early stages of arthritis, when your cartilage isn’t too badly damaged. It may not be of any help if your OA has progressed to the point of bone-on-bone. In those cases, joint replacement may be your best bet.
The PRP works to repair and rebuild your tissues, so you may need a series of treatments and some months before you experience the full benefits. In fact, initially, you may experience some pain and swelling from the injections.
The timeline for most PRP therapies is:
Your pain continues to improve as your joints repair themselves. You may need follow-up treatments every 6-12 months. As your joints heal, you may need fewer injections over time.
To improve your results and add extra comfort to your joints, we may recommend combination therapy. For instance, injections of hyaluronic acid — which lubricates your joints — combined with PRP may be more effective than either therapy alone.
To find out if PRP can change your OA game over the long term, call our helpful team or contact us online today to request an arthritis PRP treatment appointment. We have offices in Monroe, Somerville, and Flemington, New Jersey.
