Video Transcription

Is platelet rich plasma a type of Prolotherapy or is it new?

PRP is gaining in popularity but it’s just another type of Prolotherapy. So, when a person receives PRP , or platelet rich plasma, that solution will stimulate the inflammatory reaction just like all the other solutions do with Prolotherapy. What were finding is that certain conditions appear to heal a little better with Platelet Rich Plasma, such as labral tears or meniscul tears, but normally the normal Prolotherapy solutions we use are fine and a person does not need to use Platelet Rich Plasma. Specifically, Platelet Rich Plasma is the platelet rich part of the blood. So what were doing in the office, is drawing a person’s blood then we use a special filtering device to get the platelet rich part of the blood. That part of the blood has a lot of the growth factors. Platelet Rich Plasma involves the injection of a person’s own growth factors into the area that’s degenerated, or injured, to get regeneration, or healed. The other Prolotherapy solutions that we use to increase a person’s growth factor into the area in more of an indirect method, where Platelet Rich Plasma is a more direct method.

 

How does a doctor decide which Prolotherapy solution to use?

When do you use the dextrose Prolotherapy solution? When do you use a fatty acid solution? When do you use manganese? When do you use growth hormone? When do you use glucose? When do you use Platelet Rich Plasma? Honestly, it depends upon the experience of the doctor. At Caring Medical, I’ve basically been doing this full time since 1993, so I have a lot of experience. Besides knowing what solution to use, we normally can tell the person how many Prolotherapy treatment sessions they will need, within a couple of visits. Platelet Rich Plasma, specifically is very good for structures such as, the labrum in the shoulder, or the meniscus in the knee. Those tissues seem to heal very well with Platelet Rich Plasma. In the office in Oak Park, when someone has degenerative arthritis, for instance, in the ankle, the shoulder, the knee, or the hip we tend to use human growth hormone and glucosamine in the Prolotherapy solution. For simple ligament and tendon injuries, such as tendon strains or ligament sprains, we tend to use our normal Prolotherapy solution, which is hypertonic dextrose. If someone is an athlete or they’re very big and the structures have to repair very strongly, or they have tendinosis or a degenerated tendon, those typically require stronger Prolotherapy solutions. One such Prolotherapy injection ingredient includes a fatty acid solution.

 

Can the normal Prolotherapy solutions and the Platelet Rich Plasma solutions be alternated?

Absolutely. A person might start out with a certain solution and it doesn’t work all that well for them. Typically in the office in Oak Park we’ll very quickly switch them to another Prolotherapy solution. There definitely are gradations of solution. For instance, you could have two people with the exact same problem, such as a rotator cuff tear and one respond just with a normal, gentle, hypertonic dextrose solution and the other one need human growth hormone or  a fatty acid solution. Realize, more isn’t necessarily better, so it is not as simple as “oh doc, give me the strongest, most powerful solution”. That isn’t normally the better route. Most injuries respond with the safest, gentlest Prolotherapy solutions.