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Did You Know PRP Injection help knee arthritis?

Did you know Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) injection help knee arthritis?

Platelet Rich Plasma – or PRP – can provide pain relief to some patients. But it’s not a permanent fix. Nor is it covered by public or private health insurance.  

It’s often touted as a “natural” therapy that harnesses the patient’s own healing powers.

For the procedure, some blood is drawn from the patient and put into a centrifuge. The machine spins the blood, separating it into different parts.

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Blood after separation of platelets in the centrifuge.

Platelets, growth factors and other blood components involved in tissue repair are collected together to produce the PRP. This concentrated mixture is then injected directly into the part of the body needing treatment, such as a sore joint.

Numerous studies have examined the use of PRP in patients with knee osteoarthritis, in which the cartilage providing cushioning between bones shows signs of wear.

Some studies suggest PRP is superior to other injectable treatments such as hyaluronic acid (HA) and cortisone.

In particular, PRP may result in up to a year of relief, compared to six months for HA and several weeks for cortisone.

However, other studies fail to demonstrate that PRP delivers such a lengthy benefit and indicate its duration is similar to HA.

One key weakness with this research is that not all PRP products are the same.

 It reduce inflammation which, in turn, helps to temporarily ease pain and increase joint flexibility.

PRP seems to be most effective in patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis. “The worse your arthritis, the more likely it is not to be of benefit.

In the early stages of osteoarthritis, exercise and other conservative measures should be tried  before invasive treatments,  

Some doctors are concerned that patients are jumping to PRP injections without first attempting basic exercises.

It’s not easy for patients to make informed decisions about PRP. So, probably the best thing to do is start with what we know has some benefit – exercise.

People also ask

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PRP injections might preserve the cartilage that you have left within your knee. PRP injections appear to improve your quality of life and may enable you to put off further consideration of surgery as an alternative treatment. BUT, PRP injections have NOT been shown to reverse or cure the arthritis, yet.
Clinical studies have shown that PRP injections can be effective for up to nine months.
However, for knee arthritis, we suggest 2-3 injections about two weeks apart for the best effect of PRP therapy. Generally, 2-3 injections are better than one as they can last 24 months.
Pain is the most significant reason for advising knee replacement surgery in patients with osteoarthritis. However, as PRP injection allows regrowth of cartilage and pain reduction, it can be considered a treatment choice before resorting to surgical treatment.