PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma has hit the mainstream media. PRP is a mix of concentrated platelets and serum. Why is this important?  Surgeons have known for years that healing depends on platelets.  These very tiny blood components are rich in growth factors and help form a blood clot during injury.  When you injure an area like a ligament or a muscle, they seep into the wound during the bleeding that normally occurs.  They then set up a blood clot to stop the bleeding and start to release growth factors to the area to coordinate a repair response.

Over the first week or so, they act as a time release “pill” that secretes various growth factors at various times.  These time release growth factors do things like bring in stem cells and bring in new blood vessels to ensure that the body can get more blood to the area.  PRP is created when the doctor takes blood from a vein and places it in a special centrifuge to concentrate platelets (usually 3-5 times their normal concentration).  To use a gardening metaphor, if you have a plant that is injured and not doing well, placing some more water and fertilizer in the ground may help your plant recover.  Platelets are like fertilizer, their growth factors help rev up the local repair response.