PRP, Healthy and Beautiful with Your Own Blood

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) platelet-rich blood plasma is plasma that has been fortified with platelets. One of the advantages of PRP is its ability to stimulate bone and soft tissue healing. Besides being practiced in injury cases, PRP therapy has also been applied in the world of beauty. Treatment with platelet-rich blood plasma is unique because the blood used comes from the patient himself. Platelets are a part of blood that plays a role in the mechanism of blood clotting. Besides being important for blood clotting, platelets contain hundreds of proteins called growth factors. This factor has a very important role for the wound healing process. By adding platelet concentrations more than usual, it is hoped that the healing process will be faster. In PRP, platelet content can reach 5-10 times the normal concentration. Similarly, the concentration of growth factors.

This Is the Process of Treatment with PRP

The treatment process with PRP involves taking a patient's blood, processing the patient's blood into a PRP, and injecting the PRP into a patient's body parts. At least two weeks before the procedure is performed, patients will be asked not to take anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin or ibuprofen. In addition, an ultrasound examination may be needed to confirm the diagnosis and determine the appropriate treatment. Furthermore, the patient's blood will be drawn as much as 20-60 milliliters. Then, the blood will be inserted into a rotator called a centrifuge to separate the components inside. From the amount of blood drawn from this process, obtained a few millimeters of platelet-rich blood plasma. After that, the patient is given local anesthesia. The PRP liquid is then injected around the area injured or injured. This PRP injection procedure may cause mild pain and irritation in the area that is getting the injection, for several days after the injection. Patients are still allowed to take paracetamol, but it is still recommended to avoid anti-inflammatory drugs at least four weeks after injection. Patients are also advised to avoid strenuous physical activity for two weeks.

The conditions under which this therapy is applied

A number of studies conducted concluded that PRP therapy can help in the healing process of injury. Several conditions have used this therapy, among others.

• Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow is pain in the elbow due to overuse of the arm, forearm or hand muscles. Named so, because this injury is usually suffered by tennis players, but this condition can also occur in people who often work or move with the use of arm strength. Tennis elbow is caused by severe sudden or minor injuries to the muscles and tendons around the outside of the elbow. Research shows that PRP therapy can treat this injury better than injectable corticosteroids. Tendons have little blood flow so the healing process in this area is slow. With PRP therapy, platelets and various growth factors added directly to the tendon area are expected to accelerate the healing process.

• Chronic knee tendon inflammation

Chronic Achilles tendon inflammation and inflammation of the kneecap (patella) are conditions that may be helped by PRP therapy. Although it looks promising, a comparison of the effectiveness of this therapy with other therapies still requires further research.

• Acute injury to muscles and ligaments

Acute injuries to muscles and ligaments are common in athletes. This type of injury is usually in the form of pulled hamstring muscles in the thighs and knees due to sprains. Many professional athletes carry out PRP therapy for these conditions. Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence to confirm that this type of therapy really does help the healing process faster.

• Assist surgery

PRP therapy is also believed to help several types of surgery. One of them is shoulder surgery to repair a torn tendon. But until now there is not enough evidence to support this. PRP has also been applied to repair torn knee ligaments, especially anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL). It's just that the benefits of PRP in this condition are still doubtful.

• Fracture

In addition to the above conditions, PRP therapy is also applied in treating fractures. Unfortunately, the treatment also did not show a significant effect on accelerating fracture healing.

Other Conditions that Utilize PRP Injections

In addition to some of the injuries above, PRP has also been applied in the world of beauty and tested for people with osteoarthritis.

• Repair wrinkled skin

PRP injection therapy has been applied as a treatment for wrinkles, acne scars, stretch marks, and sagging skin on the eyes, hands, neck, and face. Unlike injectable fillers that use synthetic ingredients, PRP improves skin defects by triggering the growth of new cells and the formation of collagen. PRP therapy also generally does not cause allergic reactions because it originates from the patient's own body, but this procedure can be at risk of causing infection.

• Treating baldness

The use of PRP may also be effective in treating baldness caused by androgenic alopecia due to hormonal disorders. Androgenic alopecia can occur in both men and women. This happens because of the susceptibility of hair follicles resulting in gradual thinning of the hair. However, further research is still needed to prove the ability of PRP injections in treating baldness.

• Osteoarthritis

PRP is also being tested for osteoarthritis sufferers. In patients with osteoarthritis, PRP becomes an alternative if the patient has not shown improvement despite using drugs. Unfortunately, the effectiveness of PRP therapy for osteoarthritis patients is unknown.

Until now PRP therapy seems to be effective for use in conditions of chronic tendon inflammation in the elbow (tennis elbow). Although promising, PRP therapy still requires a lot of research to prove its effectiveness in other conditions, including for aesthetics.