How PRP Injections Work to Ease Ankle Arthritis Pain and Stiffness 

Osteoarthritis affects millions of people worldwide. It often causes painful inflammation in your joints, including your ankles, making mobility challenging. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections are a promising new treatment that uses your body’s platelets for pain relief.

At Sports City USA Foot & Ankle Center serving Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, and Celina, Texas, Dr. Benjamin Clair, DPM, examines your condition and may recommend PRP injections to support your body’s healing.

The role of arthritis

Cartilage is a cushiony, rubbery substance that protects your joints. Ankle injuries or routine stress on your ankle joint can cause your cartilage to break down, leaving your joints without protection. And without that protection, your bones rub against one another, causing pain. Your ankles may hurt and feel stiff, often impacting your daily activities.

With over 33 joints in your foot and ankle, this is a common place to experience the joint inflammation and pain associated with arthritis. 

Understanding PRP 

Your body has natural healing properties. For example, if you slice your finger on the edge of a piece of paper, you feel a sharp pain. The area may turn red and even be a little puffy for a few hours, but your body sends platelets to the area to start rebuilding your damaged tissues and guard against infection. 

These platelets are tiny cells within your bloodstream that aid blood clotting and healing. PRP injections use these platelets to stimulate healing by separating them from your other blood cells and injecting a high concentration of platelets into your injured area. Next, the platelets go about their business rebuilding damaged tissues. 

What you can expect with PRP injections 

PRP is a natural treatment. Dr. Clair uses PRP injections to treat sports injuries and arthritic ankle pain. If he recommends PRP injections for your ankle, he takes a blood sample and puts it into a centrifuge. The centrifuge is a cylinder that spins rapidly and separates the white and red blood cells and platelets.

Dr. Clair extracts the platelets, gives you a local anesthetic, and injects this high concentration of healing cells into the area that needs them.

This treatment isn’t an instant fix. It takes weeks for your platelets to bond with your tissues and start the process of regrowth. Some people feel increased pain immediately after a PRP treatment. If this is the case, the pain will subside, and you’ll hopefully notice improvement in your ankle pain.

If you’re in the McKinney, Texas, area and have ankle pain, call our office or request an appointment online today. Dr. Clair evaluates your symptoms and medical history to recommend ways to ease your ankle pain.