How PRP Works: A Plain-Language Guide to Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy

How PRP Works: A Plain-Language Guide to Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy

Platelet-rich plasma therapy has moved from professional sports medicine into mainstream orthopedic care over the past two decades — and for good reason. The evidence base is strong, the mechanism is straightforward, and the safety profile is excellent. Here’s what you actually need to know.

Your Blood Has Everything It Needs

Human blood contains four primary components: red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, and platelets. Platelets are the first responders of your healing system — when tissue is damaged, platelets activate and release growth factors that initiate repair. More platelets at an injury site means faster, more robust healing.

In a healthy acute injury, your body floods the damaged area with blood and begins this process naturally. The problem arises in tissues with poor blood supply (tendons, cartilage, certain ligaments) or in chronic injuries where the healing response has stalled. The body sends what it can, but it’s not enough to drive real repair.

What PRP Does

PRP concentrates what’s already in your blood. After a standard blood draw, your sample is placed in a centrifuge that separates its components by density. The platelet-rich layer is isolated and concentrated to four to five times the normal level. That concentrated solution is then injected precisely into the injured tissue under ultrasound guidance.

The result is a targeted, amplified healing response at the exact location of pathology — not systemic, not pharmaceutical, not suppressive. Your own biology, delivered where it’s needed most.

What PRP Treats

PRP has demonstrated clinical utility across a broad range of musculoskeletal conditions:

Tendon injuries — rotator cuff, Achilles, patellar, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, hip tendons

Ligament injuries — MCL, lateral ankle, ulnar collateral ligament

Cartilage conditions — osteoarthritis in any joint, meniscal tears, labral tears

Nerve injuries — carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, tarsal tunnel, Morton’s neuroma, sciatic nerve (via hydrodissection)

Aesthetic and sexual health — microneedling with PRP for skin rejuvenation and hair restoration; O-Shot and P-Shot for sexual dysfunction

What PRP Is Not

PRP is not a pharmaceutical. It contains no synthetic drugs, no foreign substances, and no ingredients that can cause an allergic reaction (it’s your own blood). It does not suppress symptoms — it amplifies repair. This is why patients are instructed to avoid NSAIDs before and after treatment: anti-inflammatories blunt the very response PRP is designed to trigger.

PRP is also not an overnight fix. The biological repair process it initiates takes time — most patients notice meaningful improvement at six to twelve weeks, with continued progress through six months.

Why Ultrasound Guidance Matters

PRP injected without imaging guidance is a different procedure than PRP injected under real-time ultrasound. Accuracy rates for unguided injections into complex joints can be as low as 30% even for experienced physicians. At Albano Clinic, every PRP injection is performed under musculoskeletal ultrasound to ensure the platelets reach the intended target.