The human body does a remarkable job at rebuilding itself and healing after an injury. Given enough time, just about any cut,
tear or break will heal itself. However, there are ways to improve upon the healing process by assisting the body and speeding
up recovery. Individuals, and especially athletes, have looked for ways to cut recovery time in order to get back on the court,
field or other playing surface faster. One of the most recent and technologically advanced treatment methods is known as
platelet-rich plasma, or PRP. For anyone who has experienced an ACL injury, requires Tommy John surgery or has torn, ripped
or disconnected other ligaments, muscle and tissue in their body, talking with their doctor about PRP treatments in Sarasota is a
must.
What is Plasma
Plasma is found in all blood. People can donate plasma throughout the United States by having their blood drawn, the plasma found inside of
the body removed, and then the blood injected back into the body. Plasma is naturally produced, but at a reduced level. In the blood,
plasma is a clear liquid. Human blood is made up of red and white blood cells, platelets and several other cellular components, as well as
plasma. However, plasma makes up just over half of blood’s physical compound, and is constructed from antibodies, enzymes, water, salt
and protein. Plasma helps the body clot when there is tissue damage and it also helps fight off diseases. This makes plasma a very
important material found in the body.
What is PRP?
As plasma is used to clot damaged tissue in the body and fight off disease, using it to help heal a torn ligament or other muscle
tissue allows the body to recover faster. Boosting the amount of plasma around the injury is necessary to reduce recovery time
from what the body would typically do on its own. Due to the amount of movement arms and legs perform, a torn ligament may
take upwards of a year to complete heal without taking advantage of platelet-rich plasma. With PRP, recover and rehab time
drops significantly.
The plasma a patient receives comes directly from their own body. Initially, around 30 milliliters of blood is removed from the
body. The blood is then spun in a centrifuge to separate the platelet-rich plasma from the other components found in the blood.
This provides a concentrated level of plasma. The PRP is then injected at the site of the injury.
How PRP Works
The PRP secretes into the muscle tissue, stimulating it to increase growth production. After surgery to repair ligaments and other
torn/damaged tissue, the platelet-rich plasma increases cell production, allowing the bond between the newly reattached tissue to
strengthen, which reduces the recovery time after surgery. With the increase in cell production, the body naturally pushes more
blood through the area, which in turn helps cartilage to firm up quickly.
PRP Treatments in Sarasota
PRP treatment is an out-patient procedure. It takes 30 minutes or less for the entire process to complete. The majority of the
time is waiting for the blood to finish spinning. After the blood is removed and the PRP created, the doctor generally uses an
ultrasound machine to ensure they are injecting it into the right location. From there, the patient is free to leave.
Soreness and an increase in pain is likely to occur immediately after an injection, followed by a steady drop off. The initial
increase in pain is due to the sudden inclusion of new material around the injury sight, which just went through corrective
surgery.
The PRP treatment in Sarasota can be performed inside of the doctor’s office, without any additional trips to the hospital.
RegenSRQ provides the specialized PRP treatments in Sarasota and offers consultations to individuals who are curious about the
procedure and want to know if it is right for them. Platelet-rich plasma treatment is available for dozens of different injury types,
so if someone recently injured a tendon, muscle tissue, joint or other area of the body, there is a good chance their injury may
prove receptive of PRP treatments. The most common injuries treated with PRP includes rotator cuff, Achilles tendon injuries,
ligament damage (outside of complete tears, which does require surgery to reattach the ligament back to the body) and other
muscle groups.
Speed Up Recovery with PRP Treatments
Cutting recovery time is important for anyone who has suffered an injury. While not right for everyone, PRP treatments can help
a large number of injuries by speeding up the tissue regeneration process. From rotator cuffs to torn hamstrings, taking
advantage of platelet-rich plasma might be the difference of sitting in a cast for months at a time and enjoying life to the fullest
and getting back to pre-injury shape quickly.
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