John Hamerly hosts Robert Whitfield MD and others on platelet-rich plasma, a centrifuged blood treatment used for athletic injuries, arthritis, hair growth, and cosmetic surgery. The doctors say PRP shows promise but the science hasn't caught up to the hype yet, and researchers still need to figure out exactly what it does in specific wounds and locations.
It is. The new hot therapy has been for a couple of months, even a couple of years. It's called platelet rich plasma therapy, or PRP for short. It's being used for a lot of different things, healing athletic injuries, easing arthritis and hands and different joints. And plastic and cosmetic surgeons are also using prp. The question that I have is whether or not the science behind PRP is actually keeping up with its hype.
So this is actually something that we take from the patient, we draw blood from them, we spin the blood, and we're able to get part of the blood that is is just rich in platelets. This plasma has many growth factors in it.
It probably will take a little bit more research into what exactly PRP is doing or not doing in a given situation, in a given wound, in a given place on the body. I wouldn't discount it. I don't think we have the science behind exactly what it's doing.
The hype always accelerates past the science, unfortunately. But it is showing some promise and it can be used in a lot of different areas, hair growth or wound healing and joints. So I think there is something there and we need to do more research on it so that we can apply it correctly.
If you've got a burning issue, you're too afraid to ask your plastic surgeon. Get ahold of me@theplasticsurgerychannel.com I'll find out. I'm John Hamerly.
