Plasma therapy for Spinal Pain

December 22, 2020 Regenerative Medicine Research 0

Aargh! Back pain! Almost all of us are familiar with this word, and most of us live with this unwanted house guest. Modern office work culture, unhealthy food habits, and lack of physical activity have made lower back pain the single leading cause of disability globally. Today, we’ll discuss one of the revolutionary treatments of back pain, plasma therapy for spinal pain.

Damage of spinal joints is one of the significant reasons for chronic back pain, a debilitating condition that devastates our daily life. Spinal joints can damage due to various reasons, like accidents, injury, falls, osteoarthritis, or disc degeneration. There are various levels of spinal pain, and treatment varies according to this. Doctors may suggest Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy to naturally heal the spinal joints and improve the spine’s mobility and functionality for severe and chronic back pain.

Here’s the article at a glance:

Platelet Rich Plasma is a mixture of the body’s blood. The blood is directly injected into the joints to stop cartilage degeneration and stimulate the natural healing process. After one dose of PRP injection, 36.33% of the patients reported improved pain relief, while after the 3rd dose, the rate increased to 54.91%.

Benefits of Plasma Therapy for Spinal Pain

- Natural healing process
- Increased functionality
- Increased range of motion
- Improves pain relief
- Reduces inflammation
- It is safe, with little or no side effects.

The procedure of PRP Therapy

At first, the doctors examine the patient physically. Once doctors find out the specific pain sources, usually the thoracic (upper back) and lumbar (lower back) regions, they draw the patient’s blood and prepare the PRP mixture. A small amount of blood is drawn from the patient’s arm, and it’s spun in a centrifuge to separate the plasma from the blood. It will be a mixture of natural plasma with platelets in high concentrations. This mixture is reinjected in the painful area of the spine. This procedure takes about half an hour and can be done with one local anesthesia only. Patients don’t need to stay overnight; usually, they are released after finishing the procedure.

How does PRP Therapy Work in Chronic Back Pain?

PRP therapy improves the recovery of injured vertebral joints. PRP stimulates the natural immune response by flooding stem cells to the site of pain. Once injected, the stem cells begin to multiply, differentiate, and replace the damaged cartilage.

Conditions of the spine treated with PRP therapy include;

Lumbar spine disc pain
Cervical spine disc pain
Lumbar and Cervical Facet joint arthritis and pain
Sacroiliac joint dysfunction and pain
Lumbar and Cervical Radiculopathy

How Many Injections Need in Spine Therapy?

PRP therapy’s feedback depends on the severity of the condition and how the body responds to the treatment. It varies from patient to patient. Some may achieve expected results after taking one injection, but they may need up to four PRP injections to see improvements as expected for some patients.

Recovery after Getting PRP Therapy?

Recovery time varies from patient to patient. In general, pain relief improvement begins to appear in 3 to 4 weeks, while the complete healing process may take up to 3 to 6 months.

Costs of PRP Therapy

Usually, plasma therapy for spinal pain costs around $500 and $2000. The cost can vary depending on location, facilities, and the doctor’s expertise doing the treatment. Often, a person has to take multiple injections given 2 to 3 months apart.

Potential side effects of PRP

Comparatively, other treatment procedures PRP has fewer side effects. Some of the potential side effects may include:

Infection
Swelling or bruising
Nerve injuries
Bleeding
Pain at the injection site
Tissue damage

Soreness is common after the PRP procedure. Usually, it will subside on its own. If it’s not done then, acetaminophen can be used.

If the side effects harm the daily activities, then consult with your doctor about any potential risks considering your immune system’s strength and severity of spinal pain.

Effectiveness of PRP Therapy

Platelet-rich plasma therapy can be an effective alternative to surgery for individual patients. Many spine conditions can be easily treated by plasma therapy, such as radiculopathy-compression of a spinal nerve in the lower back that causes sciatica. It promotes healing of the area without surgery or epidural injections. The National Pain Report also reported that about 60% of patients under PRP treatment for low back pain had experienced a reduction of pain for the long term.

Plasma therapy is a safe, effective, and feasible treatment modality for treating discogenic back pain. Considering the remarkable progress made already, plasma therapy for spinal pain undoubtedly offers new and exciting prospects for treating degenerative disc disease and other musculoskeletal disorders.

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Plasma therapy for Spinal Pain