All You Need to Know About PRP (Platelet-rich plasma) Injections: Procedure, Cost, and Side Effects

PRP or Platelet-rich plasma is a healing substance that is injected into our body through needles. Plasma is a protein-contained blood component that helps your blood to clot. PRP is produced through isolating plasma from blood and then make a concentration. When PRP injection Singapore is given to someone, it heals the cells and generates new ones. This way the tissue grows at a much faster rate providing quick recovery. Though it is not approved as a legal treatment method in several countries, many giant sportspersons like Tiger Woods, Rafael Nadal, and many other athletes have used these injections to get quick recovery from injuries.

Can you inject PRP into your body?

Platelet-rich plasma injections can be used for several health issues, such as

Hair loss

Dermatologists inject PRP into the scalps to promote hair growth and prevent hair loss. A study conducted in 2014 says that Platelet-rich plasma injection is a very effective treatment for Androgenic Alopecia or commonly known as baldness.

Injuries

Doctors have been using these injections to treat both, tendon injuries and acute sports injuries. Sportspersons are given these injections for hamstring pulls or knee sprains etc.

PRP is injected in chronic tendon injuries as well, like tennis elbow, jumper’s knee or patellar tendon pain in the knee, etc. Tendons are very tough but thick tissues that work as a bridge between muscles to bone.   

After surgical treatments

After surgery doctors inject Platelet-rich plasma if a tendon tissue gets torn accidentally.

Osteoarthritis

People suffering from osteoarthritis have got more effective pain relief through Platelet-rich plasma injections than hyaluronic acid injections.

But, it is advised not to inject PRP without consulting a doctor as they are given according to the need or injury of every individual.

How Platelet-rich plasma injection is prepared?

PRP can be injected in various ways, 

• Sometimes numbing cream is used before the injection and for that, you have to arrive earlier for your treatment session.
• In other cases, local anesthesia is mixed with PRP or sometimes it’s applied during the surgical procedure too.

Complete procedure to inject PRP

• After visiting your pain specialist Singapore, he/she will decide the right PRP dosage for your issues.
• On the day of treatment, the blood sample will be drawn. The amount of the sample depends on the area of the injection. But, don’t worry as most of the time they will draw one tablespoon or less blood.
• Then in order to separate the blood components, it’s placed on the centrifuge that spins at a very high speed. 
• The process takes around 12-15 minutes and after that, the healthcare provider separates the plasma to create the injection.
• To find a specific tendon tissue, the doctors use ultrasound technologies most of the time.

Platelet-rich plasma injection cost

Before approaching Platelet-rich plasma injection, you must know that your health insurance will not cover this. So, the money you will spend on these injections will come out of your own pockets. The cost of PRP injections depends on the health condition of the individual, but for hair loss treatment, it might cost around S$ 1200- S$3500. On the other hand, the knee injection may cost around S$ 600- S$ 1500.

Side effects

As PRP injects certain substances in our body, you could suffer from some side effects. PRP injections are not allergic as it is an autologous treatment, where contents are drawn from your own body. However, some of the side effects of PRP injections are,

• Skin infection
• Nerve injuries
• Swelling and redness in the injection site
• Pain in the injection site
• Tissue mutilation