If you have arthritis of the joints and conservative treatments such as medications, physical therapy, and cortisone injections have failed to relieve your symptoms, your orthopedic doctor may recommend joint replacement surgery.
Joint replacement is major surgery – and like everyone else, you may also be afraid to undergo it and want to delay or prevent it from happening by one means or other. The good news is there is an innovative therapy called platelet-rich plasma therapy, which can delay or sometimes prevent the need for surgery.
Before looking into how PRP therapy can delay your surgery, let’s talk about joint replacement surgery and where you can go to receive this surgery in Austin, TX.
Joint Replacement Surgery: What Is It?
A joint is a place where two bones whose ends are lined by cartilage meet. Many conditions, such as arthritis, fracture, etc.,can damage this cartilage and cause pain and swelling.
Joint replacement surgery is a surgical procedure in which the damaged or arthritis joint is removed and replaced with a prosthesis – an artificial joint made of metal, plastic, or ceramic. The artificial joints are designed to function like your normal joints.
Joint replacement surgery can be either partial replacement or total replacement. In partial joint replacement, only the damaged section of the joint is replaced, while in total joint replacement, the entire joint is replaced.
Even though highly successful at restoring your mobility, joint replacement surgery may have a long recovery period.
How Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy Can Delay Joint Replacement Surgery?
PRP therapy is the injection of concentrated platelets and plasma in the damaged or arthritic joint. As ground-breaking regenerative therapy, PRP therapy could promote damaged joints healing and provide pain relief.
Unlike corticosteroid injections which can harm cartilage, PRP injections help joint cartilage by providing growth factors that improve the environment of the joints, i.e., increase synovial fluid. Not only this, but PRP can also slow down the progression of arthritis and repair the damage to the tissues.
To find out whether PRP therapy can delay joint replacement surgery, a retrospective study was performed in 2020. In thisstudy, approximately 667 knee arthritis patients who received PRP therapy between 2014 and 2019 were followed. The study found that 85.7% of patients who had PRP injection therapy achieveda delay in their total knee replacement surgery.
In some cases, PRP therapy can prevent the need for joint replacement surgery due to its ability to reduce pain and inflammation in the joint and increase mobility.
PRP in Austin, TX
If you have joint replacement surgery on the calendar and are looking for an alternative or want to delay your surgery, visit us here at All-Star Orthopedics of Austin.We are excited to offer innovative regenerative cellular medicine therapies such as stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma therapy to relieve discomforting symptoms of your musculoskeletal conditions and injuries and improve your mobility.
If you would like to know more about PRP therapy or want to set up a private consultation, call us today at (512) 346-4933 or use our online appointment request form.
