New Treatments for Arthritis Pain at Wake Nonsurgical Ortho & Sports Medicine
By Dr. Matthew Kanaan
When you’re injured, your body immediately begins a natural healing process to repair the damaged tissue. Platelets migrate to the site of the injury and start releasing signals to trigger the immune response that initiates healing.
Platelet-rich therapy, or PRP therapy, introduces a high concentration of platelets to a damaged or injured area. When platelets are introduced, they surround it and prompt an inflammatory response that triggers your body to send out waves of cells to the area to treat pain and possibly stimulate healing.
How Does PRP Therapy Work?
We begin the process by taking a small amount of blood and isolating the platelet-rich plasma using a centrifuge. Once the PRP is separated, we can inject it into the damaged area, whether it’s a tendon, joint, or ligament, to prompt a mild inflammation.
While it may sound counter-intuitive to inflame an injured area, by stimulating inflammation, your body will send out a greater immune response to heal the area. This is a safe procedure that works using your own immune system to relieve the pain of arthritis, tendonitis, or damage from other conditions.
Our results so far…
We have performed thousands of PRP injections over the years and 90-95% of our patients do see an improvement in symptoms. Sometimes even complete pain relief.
PRP therapy can sometimes prolong the need for long-term medication or surgery and improve movement in the area. It does not work for everyone though.
It’s important to note that patients who receive PRP therapy are not “cured” necessarily. We are focusing on elevating your body’s healing process, not necessarily regenerating tissue.
A new study examined many smaller articles relating to pain relief with PRP. Here is the study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5260061/
What did it find?
– Intra-articular PRP injections probably are more efficacious in the treatment of knee OA in terms of pain relief and self-reported function improvement at 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up, compared with other injections, including saline placebo, HA, ozone, and corticosteroids.
Is PRP covered by insurance?
PRP is not currently covered by insurance. Treatment costs $650. It can be filed into an HSA or a Flexible spending account. You can discuss payment options with Dr. Kanaan’s office.
About Dr. Kanaan
Dr. Kanaan practices NONSURGICAL ORTHOPEDICS at Wake Nonsurgical Ortho & Sports Medicine which is part of the Wake Internal Medicine group practice. He focuses on alternatives to surgery, tendonitis, arthritis, and injections such as steroids, PRP, stem cells, and viscosupplementation. He was trained at Duke Medical Center and has been a part of Wake Internal Medicine for over 6 years.
Schedule an Appointment for PRP Therapy
Duke fellowship-trained nonsurgical orthopedic specialist, Dr. Matthew Kanaan, specializes in performing PRP therapy for patients in Raleigh, Durham and Cary, NC. PRP therapy is a highly effective way to provide long term relief to chronic orthopedic pain. Dr. Kanaan will take the time to diagnose your symptoms and discover if PRP therapy is right for you. Call our office at (919) 719-2270 for more information about PRP therapy or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Kanaan.