Auto accidents can be frightening and traumatic from a mental health standpoint, but they can be equally devastating from a physical perspective. From injuries to ligaments, muscles and tendons, to damage to joint tissue and fractures, auto accidents can produce injuries that take many weeks and months to heal.
Many people turn to surgery to fix long-standing problems, but there are other alternatives, such as platelet-rich plasma therapy, or PRP. Here’s how PRP can help after a car accident.
Improving Recovery, Managing Pain
After sustaining an injury in a motor vehicle accident, many people wish to take steps to hasten their recovery or manage pain. In this case, your pain management specialist may recommend platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, a component of regenerative medicine that helps you heal from within.
Regenerative medicine is a special branch of medicine that helps the body support the reparation of damaged tissue and the healing of wounds. By restoring the proper functioning of injured body parts, regenerative medicine can restore a state of balance.
Platelets within your blood help it to clot, but they also contain proteins known as growth factors which are imperative in helping the body heal properly from an injury at a quicker rate.
There are two main ways your doctor can deliver PRP, by:
- Injecting PRP into the site of the injury, coupled with a mild anesthetic. You may feel discomfort in the area for a week or so prior to the healing mechanisms kicking in.
- Delivering it to an injury site during surgery to hasten the healing process afterwards.
How PRP Helps After a Car Accident
Many conditions can be treated using PRP therapy, and that includes injuries sustained in a car accident. PRP can be effective in healing:
- Injuries to ligaments, muscle, and tendons
- Damage to joint tissue
- Fractures
The effectiveness of PRP therapy depends on many factors, such as the health and medical history of the patient, whether the injury is chronic or acute, and where the injury occurred on the body.
The best part about platelet-rich plasma injections is that they can potentially prevent the need for surgery altogether by tweaking your body’s natural healing ability. From avoidance of invasive procedures to a shortened injury recovery time, PRP is often recommended for motor vehicle accidents where injuries to ligaments, muscles, tendons, and joint tissue have resulted.
Contact Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine
If you have been in a car accident and have suffered an injury to a ligament, muscle or joint tissue, consider scheduling a free, no-obligation consultation with our pain specialists to see how PRP therapy could help before exploring more invasive treatments.