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PRP Injections

Delmarva Spine & Pain

Board Certified Interventional Pain Management located in Ocean View, DE & Berlin, MD

There are cells in your blood called growth factors that your body uses to help injured tissues heal. Wadid Zaky, MD, at Delmarva Spine & Pain in Berlin, Maryland, and Ocean View, Delaware offers platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections that use growth factors taken from your blood to intensify this natural healing process. PRP injections can boost tissue repair and reduce pain in patients with a variety of connective tissue injuries and conditions like arthritis. Find out how you could relieve chronic pain with PRP injections by calling Delmarva Spine & Pain today or booking an appointment online.

PRP Injections Q&A

What are PRP injections?

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections are a treatment Dr. Zaky uses for patients with persistent musculoskeletal pain. PRP injections are an example of regenerative medicine, which includes various methods of using human cells and tissues to encourage healing and growth.

The platelets used in PRP come from your blood. These platelets make your blood clot when you’re injured and also contain growth factors. It's primarily the growth factors in your platelets that start the repair process and trigger healthy new tissue generation.

What conditions could benefit from PRP injections?

PRP injections could help with a variety of soft tissue injuries and overuse conditions, including:

  • Muscle strains
  • Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) sprains
  • Medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprains
  • Tendon strains
  • Achilles tendinitis
  • Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)
  • Medial epicondylitis (golfer's elbow)
  • Patellofemoral pain syndrome
  • Rotator cuff injuries
  • Ankle sprains

Many leading athletes and other active people use PRP injections to help them recover from injuries. You could also benefit from PRP injections for conditions like osteoarthritis and spinal disorders like degenerative disc disease.

What happens when I have a PRP injection?

To make PRP, Dr. Zaky extracts some of your blood and places it in a centrifuge. This small machine spins at high speeds, separating the blood into platelets, plasma, and blood cells. After harvesting the platelets and some plasma, he injects the solution into your damaged tissues.

As this process can be uncomfortable, Dr. Zaky offers you a local anesthetic injection to numb the site. He injects the PRP using image guidance technology to view the needle's placement.

After your PRP injection, you can go home. You might feel a little sore at the injection site or experience some aching for a few days, but this is typically mild and nothing to worry about. In fact, a degree of discomfort is likely to indicate that the PRP injections are starting to work. 

How soon will I feel the benefits of a PRP injection?

PRP injections don't offer immediate pain relief because it takes a while for the treatment to work. The growth factors start boosting cell production quickly, but it can take several weeks for enough new cells to develop to make a difference. 

Some patients find they get sufficient relief from a single PRP injection, but it's safe to have further injections for optimal results.

To find out more about PRP injections for chronic pain conditions, call Delmarva Spine & Pain today or book an appointment online.