Intradiscal PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma is a treatment based upon injecting blood plasma that is rich in growth and healing factors at the site of damaged spinal discs to promote healing.
Intradiscal PRP is a minimally invasive treatment which can provide pain relief and reduce healing time when injury or inflammation occurs. For many patients this treatment even provides improvement in function and mobility.
Spinal disks or Vertebrae typically have a low blood supply so unlike injuries and other areas it can take longer for platelets to surround and begin healing the damaged tissue. Intradiscal PRP essentially jump-starts this process.
What Conditions Can Intradiscal PRP Help With?
- Herniated (slipped) disk. In some cases, the gel-like core or nucleus of a disk can start to spread or break through the tougher rubbery exterior of the outer disk. If this gel starts to touch nerves around the spine, it can cause serious back pain and it can result in pain, numbness or weakness in an arm or leg.
- Sciatica. When a slipped disk affects the nerves that connect to your sciatic nerve, pain can radiate down into the buttocks and legs with numbness and inflammation. Sciatica very typically occurs due to a herniated disk, narrowing of the spine (spinal stenosis) or bone spur compressing a nerve.
- Disk degeneration. In short: disk degeneration is normal wear and tear on the disks of our spinal column that cause significant neck and back pain, weakness, numbness and hot shooting pains in the arms and legs. It is most common in the cervical spine (neck) or lumbar spine (lower back), these two areas tend to undergo the most motion and are therefore most susceptible to wearing down over time.
What Can You Expect If You Receive Intradiscal PRP?
The coolest thing about Intradiscal PRP is the ‘special ingredient’ is your own blood! Your blood will be drawn and processed using a centrifuge to concentrate the platelet rich plasma from the hemoglobin. It is then fluoroscopically injected into the target disk. The whole process takes about two hours and you may feel some pain at the injection site for about a week. This process may be repeated two or three more times to achieve your desired benefits in about 4-6 months.
Find your nearest Summa Pain Care location in Peoria, Phoenix or North Scottsdale today and don’t put this off any longer. Unaddressed back generally doesn’t improve. Call our Phoenix location at 623.580.4357 , you can reach Peoria at 623.776.8686 or contact us in North Scottsdale at 480.786.1771.