Pro Athletes Have Used This Healing Therapy For Decades. Now You Can, Too!
If you know someone dealing with chronic joint pain, get ready to be their hero because the information you’re reading about Regenerative Injection Therapies, commonly referred to as stem cell therapies, could considerably improve their way of life.
Just ask Dr. Didier Demesmin, Medical Director and Founder of University Pain Medicine Center, who has seen firsthand the powerful impact of PRP—also known as Platelet Rich Plasma—on his patients.
“In recent years, there has been a tremendous leap forward in the success of Regenerative Medicine Therapies like PRP injections,” he explains. “In my opinion, PRP is the ideal alternative for people—many times, athletes—who want pain relief without surgery. I can’t fully explain how wonderful it is to help patients find healing without ‘going under the knife’. The impact on their lives goes far beyond just their physical well-being…it can improve their emotional and psychological well-being, too.”
“In my opinion, PRP is the ideal alternative for people—many times, athletes—who want pain relief without surgery. I can’t fully explain how wonderful it is to help patients find healing without ‘going under the knife’.
Dr. Demesmin smiles as he tells the stories of two recent PRP success stories. One patient had a major hip injury after a car accident. “He was back on jet skis a few weeks after the procedure,” Dr. Demesmin beams. Another patient with terrible knee pain originally thought she needed knee replacement surgery. “She was hesitant to consider PRP because she thought it would be too painful. After the procedure, she was so excited to tell me it wasn’t painful at all.” A few weeks later, after experiencing positive results with PRP on her first knee, she scheduled PRP for the other.
In addition to the tremendous physical benefits, one of the most appealing aspects of PRP is the simplicity of the procedure. There are only three steps:
A small blood sample is drawn from the patient.
The blood is put into a device that spins the blood at a high speed to separate the platelets from the blood cells.
The platelets are injected into the area of the patient’s body that needs treatment.
The entire process is typically done in-office and usually takes no longer than 60 minutes, and the injection itself takes only a few minutes. It’s important to know, too, that most patients go home right after the treatment and almost always return to work and daily activities the next day.
But the simplicity of the procedure certainly doesn’t mean just any doctor should perform PRP injections. During our conversation with Dr. Demesmin, we asked his thoughts on the importance of choosing the right doctor to perform the PRP procedure.
“Patients will want to work with a doctor who has extensive training and experience with the PRP procedure,” he advises. “The fact of the matter is that the procedure must be done with ultimate precision.”
Dr. Demesmin provided the following list of key questions to ask before consenting to PRP injections:
Is your doctor Board Certified in pain management?
Does your doctor have extensive education and training on the nervous and musculoskeletal systems?
Is your doctor a pain management specialist who performs PRP procedures on a regular basis?
Does your doctor use modern image guidance technology to identify the precise area where the platelets should be injected?
Does your doctor use world-class centrifuge technology to separate the highest quality platelets?
“In the end, there is huge upside to choosing an expert to perform the PRP injections,” says Dr. Demesmin. “It’s no surprise that professional athletes have been using PRP for years. Now, the same treatment available to teams like the Golden State Warriors is available for weekend warriors, too.”
