The Secret to Alleviating Pain Without a Prescription

Pain can be more than inconvenient and unpleasant—it can be downright dreadful. But whether you have chronic neck or back pain, arthritic joints, an acute sports injury, or a lingering sprain or strain, conventional doctors are quick to whip out their prescription pads. Yet there are a host of safe, effective alternative options that you would be smart to consider, and one of the most powerful is platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy.

PRP harnesses the healing power of platelets, natural components in the blood that initiate and regulate wound healing and tissue repair. PRP simply delivers concentrations of the body’s own platelets directly to damaged or degenerated tissues.

Once at the site of injury, platelets release a host of proteins, peptides, and other healing compounds. These include clotting factors to stop bleeding; inflammatory chemicals to drive the acute phase of the healing process; and growth factors to promote tissue regeneration and the formation of blood vessels that nourish new tissues.

In a typical PRP treatment at Whitaker Wellness, we remove a vial of a patient’s own blood, spin it in a centrifuge, and end up with a small amount of concentrated platelets that are then injected right into the affected area—kicking your body’s natural healing mechanisms into high gear.

Although it’s not widely known, PRP isn’t new. Surgeons have been using PRP for years to enhance the healing of bones, surgical incisions, and other tissues, and many elite athletes are now benefiting from this therapy’s ability to speed recovery from sprains, strains, cartilage damage, and other injuries. It’s exceptionally safe, minimally invasive, well-tolerated, and requires little to no recovery time. Another benefit is that it costs a fraction of the price of any surgical procedure.

One of the first patients we treated with PRP at Whitaker Wellness was Christine from Texas who experienced a debilitating pain in her neck and back caused by a herniated disk. She had little relief from the conventional array of cortisol injections, painkillers and other therapies and was told that surgery was the next step. Christine received PRP treatment at Whitaker Wellness and experienced dramatic improvement, regaining full use of her left arm while avoiding surgery. Another patient, Jim from California, had significant results within weeks of PRP treatment after tearing ligaments while wrestling.

If you have a slow-healing musculoskeletal injury, arthritis, or neck/back pain, I recommend checking out PRP. There is no PRP referral group at this time, so I suggest searching the Internet to find a doctor in your area who offers this therapy. (Be aware that many insurers do not currently cover PRP so you may have to pay out of pocket.) For information on receiving PRP at the Whitaker Wellness Institute in California, call 800-488-1500 or visit whitakerwellness.com.

Now it’s your turn: What’s your favorite natural solution for pain?

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