Platelet rich plasma can help to treat bald spots, fine lines, wrinkles, scars and even tendon or ligament injuries. In some cases it’s been known to help with bone issues as muscle tears as well.
In my practice I do platelet rich plasma in two kinds of arenas. Mostly I will work on fine lines, wrinkles and scars.
I also work with injuries likes sprains, strains or torn muscles.
PLATELET RICH PLASMA
Let’s go through what platelet rich plasma is all about and see what I can teach you a little bit about this. I also have a podcast on platelet rich plasma – click HERE if you would like to listen instead!
Your platelets are like the first responders of your body. They show up to the scene of an injury and act as a bandage to stop the bleeding. They secrete growth factors to start the healing process, and secrete cytokines which call out to other cells for help
Platelet rich plasma therapy takes a patient’s own platelets and concentrates them in an area that needs healing or rejuvenation, such as a scar, strain, wrinkled skin or bald spot.
It’s a kind of medical cheat that speeds up the healing response.
A lot of people are like “Ooh my own blood? I don’t know!”
Well, it is your own blood. There’s no chemicals involved. The only really chemical I use is something called calcium chloride which is an activator of your own platelets.
Click to see which pro athletes have used platelet rich plasma.
WHY SPEED UP THE HEALING PROCESS?
Why would we want to speed up a healing response? Well tendon and ligament injuries take a long time to heal. Maybe you want to get right back into the sport that you participate in or maybe you’ve been dealing with an issue that’s been going on for a long time and you’re like man I cannot deal with this you know sprain or strain any longer.
In the case of fine lines, wrinkles, scars and balding, platelet rich plasma is a way to encourage the body to address areas it has overlooked as you get older.
ALLEVIATE THE AGING PROCESS
Fine lines and wrinkles are sure signs of aging. As we get older our bodies direct resources to areas that need it most. If we are not as active as we used to be or don’t eat as well as we used to, our body begins to shut down where nutrients go. Combine that with stress, or crazy active lifestyles, and our bodies get confused as to what needs the most help.
Platelet rich plasma takes the body’s good growth factors and puts them where we want them to go. These growth factors promote tissue growth, healing and let’s your immune system know where to go.
HOW IT WORKS
How platelet rich plasma works is we draw your blood, place it in a centrifuge then spin it to separate the plasma and red blood cells.
We mix the plasma with some 10 percent calcium chloride, which activates the platelets. We then inject the platelet rich plasma right into the area that needs rejuvenation, such as a ligament injury or muscle tear.
For cosmetic purposes, platelet rich plasma is injected into areas with fine lines, wrinkles or scars.
The body reacts to the therapy much like what it would should you cut your finger.The platelets go to work, triggering different healing agents, calling out to the body,
“Hey! I need to get inflamed here! I need to get good molecules over here to help me heal up!”
GOOD INFLAMMATION VS BAD INFLAMMATION
A lot of times we think of inflammation as a bad thing, however it’s actually a natural process that helps our body’s tissue heal.
Unfortunately, our bodies often react poorly to certain foods we eat. These foods cause our digestive system to leak certain molecules into the blood stream. This causes inflammation throughout the body as our immune system goes to work battling the bad agents.
TIME TO HEAL
The first 48 hours after injecting platelet rich plasma are the achiest. After that the body’s response cuts down.
It’s like when you cut yourself. The first two days are kind of raw, and then you can deal with it. The same thing happens with platelet rich plasma.
You will have a downtime of about 48 hours. For some super sensitive folks it might be more like 72 hours. After that you are good to go! A lot of treatments happen on Fridays and by Monday folks are ready to go back to work and all’s good.
I give a month in-between treatments, and usually do three to four treatments.
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
A lot of patients ask if it feels like Botox. To me Botox can feel like ice-crystals or glass being injected into the area. Platelet rich plasma does not feel like this. It’s a cold sensation but feels more natural, which it is. There is, some pain involved, which people will talk about.
If you do the micro needling with platelet rich plasma, it can feel like a late sunburn.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
When someone leaves my office they look a little lumpy. This is normal, because we are injecting fluid into those areas. Oftentimes I’ll over-inject in certain areas to try to really ramp up an inflammatory reaction.
Your face will not look bloody like you may have seen with other cosmetic procedures.
HOW ACTIVE CAN YOU BE AFTER TREATMENT?
You should not be over-active or pushing the limits, but I want folks doing stuff and moving.
If you play tennis or golf then you need to be doing these things because your body needs to keep moving.
We need to keep pumping blood through the area of inflammation we’ve created so the good stuff can come in and bad stuff can be flushed out.
How blood flow helps the body heal.
IN CONCLUSION
Platelet rich plasma It’s your body’s own blood, with nothing else besides calcium chloride which naturally occurs in your body anyways. It’s a great way to kick start some healing in areas that seem to be neglected like wrinkles or bald spots. Injuries like muscle, tendon and ligament strains and tears are well served with this therapy also.
I highly encourage you to Google platelet rich plasma in your area and see who’s doing it! It’s worth the phone call!
This blog is a summary of my podcast on platelet rich plasma. Click HERE to listen to my podcast on this topic!
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