PRP Specialist
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Orange County Spine and Sports Physicians
Vivek Babaria, DO, FAAPMR
Sports Medicine, Pain Management & Interventional Spine Specialist located in Newport Beach, CA
Many professional and elite-level athletes, including famed golfer Tiger Woods and star tennis player Rafael Nadal, have trusted platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatments to help them overcome injury and excel again. At Orange County Spine and Sports Physicians, esteemed physician Vivek Babaria, DO, FAAPMR, and the team of specialists offer PRP to everyone from competitive athletes to those less active and are suffering from age-related pain and stiffness. Servicing the areas of Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Anaheim, and Long Beach, California, so call or click request appointment today.
PRP Q&A
What is platelet-rich plasma (PRP)?
PRP therapy uses your blood as the base of a powerful regenerative treatment. Your blood contains many platelets, which produce potent growth factors. These growth factors can provoke healing anywhere in your body.
In addition to platelets, your whole blood contains white blood cells, red blood cells, and plasma. While every part of your blood has important and valuable functions, platelets are central in the healing process.
With PRP therapy, you can greatly intensify the concentration of platelets around an injury and thus speed up your healing.
What types of pain does PRP therapy treat?
Because it encourages healing of damaged and inflamed tissue, PRP therapy can help with both injuries and wear-and-tear damage. Some of the many types of pain that PRP can treat include:
- Back pain
- Neck pain
- Shoulder pain
- Hip pain
- Knee pain
- Elbow pain
- Joint pain
PRP can treat tendon, ligament, muscle, and joint damage. It's also a powerful way to speed up your recovery after rotator cuff surgery, ACL surgery, or other procedures.
How does PRP therapy work?
For PRP therapy, the Orange County Spine and Sports Physicians team withdraws some blood (usually one or two ounces) from an arm vein. They then use a special treatment process to extract the platelets and plasma, converting it into a very platelet-rich formula.
The team then uses fluoroscopic guidance — a specialized type of live X-ray — to administer the PRP around your injury.
How does PRP compare with steroid injections?
The main difference between PRP and steroid injections is that PRP is a regenerative medicine treatment that helps you heal. This, in turn, brings pain relief and a return to normal function.
Corticosteroid injections have one main purpose, reducing inflammation and thereby relieving pain. Basically, PRP is a restorative treatment, while cortisone injections purely address your pain.
Ultimately, this means that PRP may help you recover more quickly.
What can I expect after PRP treatment?
After your PRP injection, you can return home almost right away. The tissue repair process occurs over the months ahead, and you may notice some improvements as soon as a month after treatment.
Most people experience significant pain relief around 3-4 months after their PRP treatment, but you may see additional benefits for up to six months.
Depending on how effective PRP is for your needs, you might schedule additional treatments for maximum healing. The team designs a personalized rehabilitation plan to help you have the best and most comfortable comeback. Many athletes say that PRP helped them return to competition faster.
Learn how PRP therapy can stop pain, improve mobility, and boost your quality of life by calling Orange County Spine and Sports Physicians or clicking the online scheduler now.
