PRP for Tennis elbow- is it effective?
Tennis elbow is the pain and tenderness on the outer side of your elbow due to injury to the forearm muscles and tendons. The muscles and tendons that pass over the bony point at the elbow control the movements of your wrist. It is the repetitive wrist movements, which causes the muscles and tendons to get rubbed against the bone, causing damage to it.
The micro-tearing and degeneration of muscles and tendons in tennis elbow occur due to a strenuous activity like you may have played tennis regularly and developed pain gradually on your elbow. It is due to the strokes of a hard rubber tennis ball, especially the groundstroke that injure the forearm muscles and tendons.
Your day to day activities such as forceful gripping and lifting heavy objects may also contribute to causing tennis elbow. The constant overloading of forearm muscles and tendons may weaken its strong attachment on the elbow joint followed by micro- tear causing pain.
Or maybe it could be your occupation; you may be a gardener, carpenter, or a plumber where your work mostly involves the wrist. Repetitive wrist bending and straightening put your forearm muscles and tendons to scrap over the bone like scraping knife on the whetstone, causing damage to it.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection is one of the management for treating tennis elbow. It is the combination of platelets and growth factors that are injected directly into the exact point of pain and tenderness. The pain that may sometimes extend up to your neck and down to your wrist and hands, and may get even worse during activities such as lifting a cup, gripping, wringing and hammering, PRP help reduce pain by delivering platelets which are minute blood cells at the site of injury to help repair the damage. The growth factors in it, such as vitamins and hormones, stimulate the growth of cells damaged.
Every individual who uses their forearm actively are likely to suffer from tennis elbow. The spot of trouble is prominent and is palpable on the outer aspect of your elbow. It is the only location in the elbow where blood supply is poor delaying recovery. PRP treatment helps speed up the healing process. PRP is compared to several other treatments, and it has shown a significant reduction in pain and improvement in function with a stronger grip.
Conclusion
PRP is known to be effective for the treatment of Tennis elbow. It is also considered safer as it is prepared from one’s blood, causing no secondary complications. PRP help reduces pain and improves functions.