Don’t Let Knee Pain Keep You Inside: A Look at PRP Therapy
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Winter Joint Pain? Discover How PRP Therapy Helps You Stay Active All Season
Increased pain in the winter months might surprise you. Seasonal fluctuations in barometric pressure and humidity can make joints achier for some people, while others might experience stiffer joints because of time spent traveling around the holidays on long flights and car rides.
If your winter joint pain is keeping you sedentary, don’t lose hope. Interventional spine and pain specialist Glenn M. Flanagan, MD, can help you stay active with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for joint pain at Naples Regenerative Institute in Naples, Florida.
In this article, we’ll discuss how regenerative PRP injections work and how their results could motivate you to stay active through the winter season.
PRP and joint healing
For years, professional athletes have turned to PRP injections to help heal their injuries and return to the court or field.
PRP doesn’t use any futuristic technology or magical medicine to do this. Instead, it harnesses and focuses the healing tools your body already has. Made from a sample of your blood, PRP contains blood platelets and growth factors that already facilitate the healing process.
Dr. Flanagan injects PRP into the region of your joint injury by using imaging technology to guide the needle into place. This helps him avoid causing further damage to the joint.
Once in place, the platelets begin the healing process. The platelets release growth factors and cytokines (proteins) that help damaged tissue repair itself.
How PRP makes movement easier
Whether your joint pain is due to a sports injury, such as a ligament strain, or a degenerative condition like arthritis, joint pain can be highly limiting to your exercise routine. For some people, this is especially true when seasons change.
You might experience a slight increase in joint stiffness directly after your PRP injections, but soon enough, your joints will loosen up as inflammation subsides. The timeframe is different for everyone, with most people noticing improvements in pain and stiffness in 4-6 weeks.
Many people notice continued improvement in their joint function for up to a year after PRP injections.
Staying active after PRP therapy
Dr. Flanagan can help you safely return to an appropriate level of physical activity after treating your joint pain with PRP therapy.
Adding more activity to your routine after PRP therapy starts with aftercare to the injection site. This helps prevent infections and allows the PRP to do its job. Keep the joint clean and dry and avoid too much touching or rubbing.
Dr. Flanagan recommends taking these steps as you gradually increase activity:
- Avoid strenuous activity at first
- Avoid swimming and hot tubs until cleared to do so
- Start with slow, safe activities like walking, yoga, or stretching
- Create a structured plan that reintroduces complex exercises gradually
- Stop immediately and let Dr. Flanagan know if your pain flares up with exercise
Dr. Flanagan can help guide you to safely increase your activity level after PRP therapy to avoid any complications regarding healing.
Get in touch
If you’re interested in learning more about PRP therapy for winter joint pain, talk to Dr. Flanagan. He can determine if you’re a candidate for treatment and give you an approximate timeframe for healing.
Schedule a consultation online or over the phone at Naples Regenerative Institute today.
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