Can PRP help heal a meniscus tear?
PRP may help some meniscus tears heal without surgery. It uses a sample of your own blood, concentrated with platelets and injected into the knee, to encourage blood flow and support healing of the cartilage. As a minimally invasive option, it can reduce downtime compared with surgery, which often brings long recovery times.
Meniscus tears in the knee can be very painful. Also known as a cartilage tear, a meniscus tear often occurs from a forceful twisting motion or rotation of the knee. These tears are common in athletes, but can happen to anyone. The meniscus, a C-shaped piece of cartilage, acts as a cushion between the tibia and femur, with each knee containing two menisci.
Most tears get better with ice, rest, and OTC medication, and perhaps some physical therapy to strengthen the leg muscles that are around the knee. If pain or stiffness persist, surgery may be recommended. However, surgery isn’t the only solution to pain. Meniscus tears can be treated with platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy, a minimally invasive procedure that can reduce downtime and improve recovery time without sacrificing comfort. This is a natural treatment created from your own blood that is designed to promote healing.
Benefits of Using PRP Therapy for Meniscus Tears
If you have recently suffered a meniscus tear, whether through sports activity or just an awkward fall, you may be considering a minimally invasive approach to healing that will help you recover quickly. Here are some of the benefits of PRP for meniscus tears. If you are weighing your options, our PRP injection cost guide explains what affects pricing.
Minimally Invasive
PRP injection isn’t a surgical procedure, but rather is a minimally invasive procedure that greatly reduces downtime, improves recovery time, and doesn’t compromise comfort levels. Surgery comes with long, painful recovery times.
Natural Alternative
PRP therapy is a natural treatment that is created from a sample of your own blood to promote healing. Because it treats the root cause of your problem, this method can reduce pain and inflammation.
Prompts Healing
When soft tissues are injured (think ligaments and cartilage), they can take a while to heal due to the limited blood flow to the affected area. PRP therapy acts as a reinforcement agent by encouraging blood flow, strengthening the soft tissues, and speeding up healing times.
Addresses Aging Concerns
Elderly people cannot easily handle invasive treatments like surgery, as well as the long recovery times that come with meniscus tears. PRP treatment does away with the need for surgery, protecting the injured parts, and hastening the body’s own healing response.
Quicker Return to Sports
Meniscus tears are common among young athletes, particularly those in contact sports such as football and volleyball, and carry a mean annual incidence of 60 to 70 per 100,000, according to the National Library of Medicine. Meniscal injuries are some of the most frequently encountered and treated conditions within the knee joint, responsible for functional and clinical impairment that comes with a high annual cost. With PRP, athletes can return to play much more quickly than if they underwent surgery.
Traditional Treatments
The traditional way to treat a meniscus tear is to follow the R.I.C.E. method:
- Rest
- Ice
- Compression
- Elevation
This is usually enough to heal a meniscus tear, although some physical therapy may be necessary. In more severe cases,surgery is often recommended, but as said above, it comes with long recovery times. Some patients benefit from corticosteroid injections for inflammation, but this synthetic steroid has been known to suppress the immune system.
However, studies reveal that PRP is a safe alternative therapy utilizing the natural healing ability of the body to repair knee damage.
Are You a Candidate for Regenerative Medicine?
Some patients exploring treatment options for knee pain may want to learn more about regenerative medicine. Whether these therapies are appropriate depends on several factors, including the nature of the injury, overall health, previous treatments, and individual goals.
During a consultation, your physician may review:
- Your medical history
- Previous treatment approaches
- Imaging results
- The condition of the knee joint
- Your activity goals
A personalized evaluation can help determine whether regenerative medicine or another treatment approach may be appropriate for your situation.
The Most Common Solution to Moderate-to-severe Torn Meniscus Problems is Surgery
Around 700,000 meniscus surgeries are performed in the US each year, at a cost of around four billion dollars (if you don’t want to do the math, then that’s around $5,700 per surgery). The success of such surgeries has long been under question, and a recent study has shown that alternative treatments, such as regenerative medicine, are just as effective, if not more so.
In a controlled study of 146 patients, 70 were given meniscus surgery and 76 were given ‘sham surgery’ (i.e. they were given all the signs that surgery had been undertaken, even though no actual surgery was performed). Both sets then went through a rehabilitation process.
The results were staggering – the people who were given ‘sham surgery’ showed the same rates of recovery as those who had been operated upon.
Meniscus Repair Surgery Has Been Described as ‘Ineffective, Dangerous and Expensive’
The body is always fully capable of repairing itself given time and rest. For many people, the healing process can be accelerated with the use of techniques such as regenerative medicine, which uses the body’s own stem cells as a ‘helping hand’. It certainly seems clear that physicians need to stop automatically recommending surgery to their patients for meniscus repairs, given the expense and the low chance of it making any difference.
If you would like to know more about regenerative medicine treatments including stem cell therapy, then please get in touch with us at the Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine. One of our regenerative medicine doctors would be happy to sit down with you and provide a consultation to discuss your current health needs. Feel free to give us a call today at (248) 216-1008 to schedule your consultation.
More Questions Patients Ask
What are the common signs of a meniscus tear?
Common signs of a meniscus tear include pain along the inside or outside of the knee, swelling, a locking or catching feeling, limited range of motion, and a sense that the knee may give out. Only a qualified medical professional can diagnose a meniscus tear, so a thorough evaluation is an important first step.
Is there an alternative to surgery for a meniscus tear?
Yes, for some patients. A torn meniscus is a common knee injury, and surgery is often recommended. However, in a study of 146 patients, people given sham surgery recovered at the same rate as those who had real surgery. Regenerative medicine, which uses the body’s own stem cells to support healing, may be an option worth discussing first.
Contact Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine
If you have recently suffered a meniscus tear, schedule a no-obligation consultation with our pain specialists to learn more about how PRP therapy can promote healing from within.
By Board-certified Doctor Thomas Nabity, MD
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