Generally speaking, prp injections are not painful; however, the level of discomfort depends on the part of the body being treated. Injections into the joint are of minimal discomfort. There is some discomfort associated both with the need for blood to be injected and with the injection itself. Both parts of the procedure involve placing a needle through the skin.
There are anesthetics that can be administered to help relieve some of the discomfort associated with placing a needle in the skin. The relief found with a PRP injection is not immediate, often as experienced by people with a cortisone injection. They may be a little uncomfortable at the time of the injection, but many people find that they are not as bad as feared. There may be pain at the injection site for 1 to 2 days after the injection.
The post-injection exacerbation may last 2 to 3 weeks. In general, PRP injections are not painful. This may vary depending on the patient or the area of the body where the injection is given. Your doctor may recommend a local anesthetic to control this discomfort.
General anesthesia is generally not used in conjunction with PRP therapy. Sometimes there is a small amount of pain after the procedure; however, this lasts no longer than a few days and can be minimized with over-the-counter Tylenol. It's essential to avoid anti-inflammatory drugs such as Aleve, Motrin, Celebrex, Naprosyn, and Mobic. These medicines can prevent the healing process.
PRP therapy is a good option for patients in whom other methods, such as steroid injections and oral pain relievers, have failed. The injection process lasts no more than an hour, which includes the creation of the PRP as explained above. Trying to stimulate a healing response within the body can be challenging, and PRP injections can be an effective way to achieve that goal. In the extremities, ultrasound guidance is commonly used to inject PRP into the appropriate tendon, ligament, or joint it is being targeted.
While there is some data to support the use of PRP injections in certain clinical situations, there are other data that question whether this is more beneficial than traditional treatment. Therefore, some patients may wish to receive a series of 3 PRP injections each year if they find them useful. By injecting PRP into areas of injury, the hope is to stimulate and optimize the body's ability to heal chronic diseases. PRP injections have been a topic of great interest to orthopedic surgeons and their patients.
Your pain specialist will draw your blood, spin it in the centrifuge to obtain platelet-rich plasma, and inject the PRP directly into the joint capsule. Also, consider your activities for the first few days after the injection, especially with the potential for a post-injection outbreak. PRP injections aren't covered by most insurance plans, so there's usually a fee to provide this service. The purpose of this patient information page is to provide you with the information you need to know about preparing for your injection and post-injection handling.
PRP injections are given under ultrasound guidance to the area (usually a joint or tendon) of pain and degeneration. When PRP is injected into the site of pain or inflammation, growth factors can trigger the body's natural healing mechanisms, which work to repair damaged tissue and restore normal functioning.
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