What Is PRP Therapy?
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is a regenerative treatment that uses concentrated healing factors from your own blood to stimulate tissue repair and reduce inflammation in injured structures. The treatment has gained significant traction in sports medicine and orthopedics as a natural, minimally invasive alternative to surgery for a range of musculoskeletal conditions.
Dr. Qureshi draws a small sample of your blood, spins it in a centrifuge to concentrate the platelets and growth factors, and injects the resulting PRP solution directly into the damaged tissue under ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance. Because the treatment uses your own biology, there is no risk of rejection or allergic reaction.
Conditions Treated
- Osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, or shoulder
- Rotator cuff tendinopathy (partial tears)
- Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) and golfer's elbow
- Patellar tendinopathy (jumper's knee)
- Achilles tendinopathy
- Plantar fasciitis
- Labral tears of the hip or shoulder (partial)
- Ligament sprains and instability (ankle, knee)
- Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
How It Works
Platelets contain hundreds of growth factors โ including PDGF, TGF-ฮฒ, VEGF, and IGF โ that orchestrate the body's natural healing cascade. When concentrated PRP is injected into injured tissue, these growth factors signal local cells to migrate, proliferate, and synthesize new collagen and extracellular matrix. The result is accelerated tissue regeneration rather than simple inflammation reduction.
A typical PRP preparation concentrates platelets 3โ8 times above baseline blood levels, depending on the centrifugation protocol used. Dr. Qureshi uses leukocyte-rich or leukocyte-poor formulations depending on the target tissue and indication, reflecting current evidence-based practice.
Benefits
- Natural โ uses your own blood with no foreign substances
- Minimal downtime compared to surgery
- Addresses tissue healing rather than just masking symptoms
- Can delay or avoid joint replacement in appropriate candidates
- Growing body of clinical evidence, especially for knee OA and tendinopathy
- Repeatable โ many patients benefit from 2โ3 injection series
Risks & Side Effects
- Temporary pain flare 2โ5 days after injection (a normal part of the healing response)
- Mild swelling and stiffness at the injection site
- Very rare risk of infection (minimized with sterile technique)
- Results are variable โ not every patient responds equally to PRP