Healing of tissues in the body depends on a good blood supply to the injured area. Wherever tendons attach to bone, there is a relatively poor blood supply. Therefore, when a tendon gets injured (or degenerates from normal wear and tear), it has a limited ability to heal itself. That is why we see a lot of painful conditions at the origin or insertion of tendons. This commonly occurs in the shoulder, elbow, knee, ankle, and foot.
Cortisone injections have been used for many years to treat pain from tendonitis or tendon degeneration. Cortisone treats the symptom (pain), but it does not fix the underlying problem. Cortisone is a steroid that shuts off the body’s inflammatory response, but it does nothing to stimulate healing of tissue. If you receive multiple, frequent steroid injections, then there is the potential to increase tissue damage.
On the other hand, PRP injections could stimulate healing of the injured or degenerated tissue. Platelets contain growth factors and other substances that promote tissue healing. We need to inject the platelets directly into the tissue because blood is not getting into these damaged areas.
I have been amazed by the results I’ve seen in my PRP Injection Treatment patients. This is especially rewarding because I initially used PRP only on patients who previously failed all other non-surgical treatment options.
