Before and After Your Orthobiologic Procedure: How to Get the Best Results

Before and After Your Orthobiologic Procedure: How to Get the Best Results

Orthobiologic procedures — PRP, bone marrow concentrate, and related treatments — work by amplifying your body’s own healing biology. That means the state of your body before, during, and after the procedure directly affects what’s possible. Here’s what the evidence and our clinical experience show makes the biggest difference.

Before Your Procedure

Stop NSAIDs at least one week prior. Ibuprofen, naproxen, Motrin, Aleve, and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories suppress the very inflammatory response that drives orthobiologic healing. Taking them before or after your procedure undermines the treatment. Your care team will recommend appropriate alternatives for pain management during this window.

Hydrate well the day before. Adequate hydration improves blood draw quality and supports your body’s baseline healing capacity.

Prioritize protein intake. Tissue repair is protein-dependent. Ensuring adequate protein in the days leading up to and following your procedure gives your body the building blocks it needs.

Disclose all medications. Some medications affect platelet function, clotting, or immune response in ways that require procedural adjustments. Your care team needs a complete picture.

Arrange a driver. You’ll be alert after the procedure, but we recommend having someone drive you home.

Fill prescriptions in advance. Post-procedure discomfort is manageable and typically short-lived, but you want appropriate medications on hand before you need them.

The Day of Your Procedure

Cell harvesting and injection generally occur the same day. Depending on your treatment plan, this may involve a blood draw for PRP, a small fat harvest from the lower back or abdomen, or a bone marrow draw from the posterior pelvis. These are performed in a sterile procedure room with local anesthesia. Patients can be awake or may request light sedation.

Ultrasound guidance is used for all injections, ensuring precise delivery into the target tissue.

After Your Procedure

Expect a response, not a reaction. Swelling, warmth, and soreness in the days following your procedure are expected — they represent the inflammatory healing cascade the treatment is designed to trigger. This is not a sign that something went wrong.

Continue avoiding NSAIDs for three months. This is the most important post-procedure instruction and the one most commonly ignored. The healing process continues long after the acute soreness resolves. Suppressing inflammation during this window actively reduces outcomes.

Begin physical therapy at approximately one week. PT is not optional — it’s a core part of the protocol. Guided movement and progressive loading are how the newly stimulated tissue remodels into functional, load-bearing structures. Expect to work with a physical therapist who will advance your program based on your response.

Use pain as a guide. Good days and challenging days are both normal during the three-to-six-month recovery arc. On lower-pain days, you can ease back into activity. On higher-pain days, rest. This is your body communicating, not failing.

Expect results on a biological timeline. Most patients notice meaningful improvement within six to twelve weeks. Full results often continue developing through six months. This is slower than a cortisone shot — and it’s also fundamentally different. Cortisone suppresses symptoms. Orthobiologics support structural repair.