(573) 664-1215
301 North Washington Street
Suite 1 & 2
Farmington, Missouri, 63640
Farmington, MO
Only 65 miles south of St. Louis
Only 70 miles north of Cape Girardeau
Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday 8 am to 7 pm
Saturday or Sunday by Appointment
Dr Humberto J. Olivero
MD, MSPH, CPH, EOH, CWW
PRP (platelet-Rich Plasma)
PRP is produced from your own blood. It is a concentration of one type of cell, known as platelets, which circulate through the blood and are critical for blood clotting. Platelets and the liquid plasma portion of the blood contain many factors that are essential for the cell recruitment, multiplication and specialization that are required for healing. After a blood sample is obtained from a patient, the blood is put into a centrifuge, which is a tool that separates the blood into its many components. Platelet-Rich Plasma can then be collected and treated before it is delivered to an injured area of bone or soft tissue, such as a tendon or ligament.
Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy is a form of regenerative medicine that can harness those abilities and amplify the natural growth factors your body uses to heal tissue.
In recent years, doctors have learned that the body has the ability to heal itself.
PRP Injection Process
Step 1: Your blood is drawn -typically from your arm- and put into a centrifuge (a machine that spins rapidly to separate fluids of different densities).
Step 2: The blood is placed into a centrifuge. This machine spins around very quickly, causing the blood components to separate. The separation process takes about 10 minutes. Your blood will have been separated by -platelet rich plasma- platelet poor plasma - red blood cells.
Step 3: The platelet-rich plasma is drawn up into a syringe and then injected into areas needed. Example: the scalp that need increased hair growth, or under the eyes to help lessen the darkening.
Step 4: Doctors will often use imaging, such as ultrasound, to pinpoint specific area for injection such as the tendon. Your doctor will then inject the PRP into the affected area.
What are the purposes of PRP injections?
Researchers are trying out PRP injections across a number of applications.
Examples of these include:
Hair Loss: Doctors have injected PRP into the scalp to promote hair growth and prevent hair loss. According to research from 2014, PRP injections are effective in treating androgenic alopecia, also known as male pattern baldness.
Tendon Injuries: Tendons are tough, thick bands of tissue that connect muscle to bone. They are usually slow to heal after injury. Doctors have used PRP injections to treat chronic tendon problems, such as tennis elbow, Achilles tendonitis's at the ankle, and jumper's knee, which causes pain in the patella tendon in the knee.
Acute Injuries: Doctors have used PRP injections to treat acute sports injuries, such as pulled hamstring muscles or knee sprains.
Postsurgical Repair: Sometimes doctors use PRP injections after surgery to repair a torn tendon (such as a rotator cuff tendon in the shoulder) or ligaments (such as the anterior cruciate ligament)
