Blood-Derived Platelet Anatomy in Activated Platelet-Rich Plasma

“All PRP is not the same. PRP results vary and primarily rely on the (1) spin protocol, (2) activation and (3) aggregation method. Platelet activation is essential. This gets the healing process started immediately, and lowers the level of pain on injection. Platelet aggregation is also an important factor, which we initiate immediately with our bellablood Activator (bbA).”

What are Platelets?

Platelets, also called thrombocytes are cells within your blood that contain natural sources of growth factors, proteins and cytokines that stimulate the healing of bone and soft tissues. Platelet’s serve several valuable functions:

• Growth Factors: A conglomeration of growth factors provides numerous ways of assisting in cell repair, some of which include: decreasing inflammation, improving cell growth, and act as signals to the bodies immune system.
  

• Cytokines: Cytokines are responsible for almost all repair processes that naturally occur in the body. Cytokines are critical for cellular communication and cumulatively accelerate tissue and wound healing. Depending on the specific cytokines, numerous metabolic pathways that aid in cell recovery are activated.
  

• Attracts Stem Cells: By attaching to the injured soft tissue, platelets initiate a cascade for blood coagulation to occur, forming a fibrin clot to stop bleeding. Additionally, platelets attracting the aid of your body’s stem cells, another natural healing element. This essential platform facilitates fibrin layer formation, new tissue development, and the beginning of the healing process.

Platelet rich plasma is your body’s own blood plasma with concentrated platelets. Typical concentrations of platelets in PRP are 5-10 times that found in blood. Therefore, PRP is a consolidator of the above resources that collectively stimulate repair and regeneration.

Which treatment should I get? Stem Cells or Platelet-Rich Plasma?

Let’s say, for example, you have encountered an injury to the knee meniscus, ACL or MCL ligaments, or have chronic knee pain due to a past injury or arthritis. Any of these dysfunctions would make you a good candidate for knee stem cell therapy.

Autologous Adult Stem Cells are being used to treat many types of chronic pain and degeneration. A mesenchymal stem cell is a primitive cell with the ability to self-replicate, reduce inflammation, fight apoptosis, and differentiate into multiple tissues.

With these abilities and under the right conditions, stem cells hold the potential to regenerate damaged tissue. The stem cells used for these therapies are natural and harvested from your own body.

Currently doctors are treating shoulder, knee, hip, and spine degeneration, in addition to soft tissue (muscle, tendon, ligament) and other bone related injuries.

In many cases, the area of injury can be treated with both Stem Cells and Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP).

PRP therapy alone can be effective for acute sports injuries. Much more profound results – tissue regeneration and pain relief – are often seen in these conditions when PRP is utilized in combination with stem cell injections.

Remember, PRP is a combination of growth factors and platelets that provide cell signals and nourishment to help stem cells flourish and develop into new joints, ligaments, cartilage, and tendons. If stem cells are the seeds in the lawn, PRP is the fertilizer that helps the lawn grow.

What conditions are commonly treated by PRP?

Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy can potentially treat a range of sports and acute injuries resulting in joint, tendon and ligament pain. Soft tissue injuries are most responsive to PRP treatment. The following is a representative, non-exhaustive sample:

• Joint pain resulting from inflammation after an acute injury

• Chronic Degenerative Joint Disease

• Ligament and muscle injuries

• Tendonitis, e.g. tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow

• Early partial tendon tears

For example, tendonitis, such as Achilles tendonitis or patellar tendonitis in the knee, or tennis elbow, are common overuse conditions plaguing many athletes.

Many of these tendons involve microscopic tearing and formation of scar tissue. It is often difficult to heal these tendon injuries due to poor blood supply to these regions. With PRP treatment, this concentrated platelet injection enhances the nutrients and growth factors in the injured area to allow the body to heal it.

Research studies and clinical practice have shown PRP therapy to be very effective at relieving pain and returning patients to their normal lives.

Both ultrasound and MRI images have shown definitive tissue repair after PRP therapy, confirming the healing process. The need for surgery can also be greatly reduced by treating injured tissues before the damage progresses and the condition is irreversible.

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