Modern methods of treating injuries with platelet-rich plasma are available not only for athletes. Tennis elbow can be the result of working at the computer, a heel spur or damage to cartilage from long sitting can be cured today without an arsenal of drugs. The salvation for tendons, tissues and joints is therapy with platelet-rich plasma, a preparation obtained from our own blood.

Why, even seriousinjuries , do athletes heal like a dog? Because they are treated with innovative methods, e.g. usingplatelet-rich plasma . A preparation obtained from the patient's ownbloodof a patient with growth factors is injected into a torn muscle or tendon, or the bone cushioning cartilage is grown on a special medium, or the meniscus is restored.

Today these methods are more and more widely used and available not only for athletes. Regenerative orthopedics is a new field of medicine. Its main goal is to restore damaged tissues. The most modern methods, such as platelet-rich plasma or stem cells, induce repair processes in the patient's body. As a result, the regeneration process takes place in the diseased or damaged tissues. Hence the name regenerative orthopedics.

Platelet-rich plasma repairs orthopedic injuries

In classic orthopedics, when we report any kind of injury - fracture, tearing, damage to muscles, tendons or joints, which causes pain and swelling - apart from surgical methods, pharmacological treatment is also used. It involves, among other things, the administration of anti-inflammatory drugs, painkillers or injections of preparations containing steroids.

- Administering steroids quickly improves your he alth. It relieves pain and swelling, but at the same time inhibits repair processes and may lead to tissue degradation, e.g. osteoporosis or weakening of tendons or ligaments. On the other hand, in the case of regenerative orthopedics, the methods used are designed to stimulate repair processes by forcing the patient's body to regenerate sick or damaged tissues - explains Dr. Marcin Malcewicz, a second degree specialist in orthopedics and traumatology as well as balneology and physical medicine from the Lek Center with his own blood.

What does the plasma injection procedure look like?platelet-rich?

Currently, the most frequently used method in regenerative orthopedics are treatments with the use of platelet-rich plasma. This method uses the richest natural source of growth factors - platelets. From a small amount of blood collected from the patient, the platelet concentrate is separated within 5 minutes using a special kit.

- Platelet-rich plasma injected into diseased tissues strongly stimulates the repair of damaged tendons, muscles, ligaments, cartilage or bones. We observe fast and very stable results using this method. Patients use less standard medications after using platelet-rich plasma. This is especially important in the case of people with other diseases, because we do not burden their body with additional drugs, as well as active people, because they recover faster - lists Dr. Marcin Malcewicz.

Platelet-rich plasma treatment available to everyone

Treatments with the use of platelet-rich plasma or stem cells are becoming more and more popular in the world. World-class athletes are treated for injuries and diseases of the locomotor system using platelet-rich plasma.

The famous football club FC Barcelona cooperates with a Spanish company dealing in the treatment of platelet-rich plasma. In the media you can also find information that sports stars such as Tiger Woods (one of the best golfers in the world) or Kobe Bryant (the star of the NBA basketball league) treated their injuries with platelet-rich plasma treatments.

- Personally, since I use platelet-rich plasma, the effects of my work are incomparably better. Patients get rid of pain faster and recover. Thanks to this method, I get an improvement in cases where it was difficult to obtain any effect so far. For example, I recently treated a 40-year-old patient working professionally as a physical education teacher. The patient, with damage to the Achilles tendon, was operated on three times. There is a palpable cavity in the tendon. In this case, after just one treatment with platelet-rich plasma, the loss in the tendon was significantly reduced. The pain symptoms disappeared and the tendon function improved. Thanks to the methods of regenerative orthopedics, such situations often happen in my practice - emphasizes Dr. Marcin Malcewicz.

Platelet-rich plasma helpful in the treatment of joint overload

The methodsregenerative orthopedicscan heal numerous diseases and injuries of the musculoskeletal system, including spinal pain syndromes, overload changes, e.g. tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, inflammation forebow bursaand prepatellar, jumper's knee, overload of the Achilles tendon and the foot fascia (heel spur), damage and defects of articular cartilage, joint overload syndromes, etc.

Platelet-rich plasma is also very effective in the treatment of bone union disorders.

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