PRP injections can be really helpful for healing injuries to the knees and other joints. Basically, your doctor will remove a portion of your blood and spin it down to isolate the plasma. The plasma is rich with various growth factors which, once injected into damaged tissue, will stimulate that tissue to heal. PRP has become quite common in recent years, and it has an excellent track record of success. Still, sometimes patients have a few concerns about it. Here's a look at the most common of those concerns, along with some reassurance.

Concern #1: Your body will react poorly to the contents of the PRP injections.

You may know someone who reacted poorly to cosmetic injections or cortisone injections, and it makes sense you'd be worried that PRP injections might cause a similar reaction. However, the chance of your body reacting poorly to PRP injections is much, much lower. The plasma being injected, in this case, is your own. Since it was made by your body and has already been inside your body, you can pretty much count on your body tolerating it well. There's next to zero risk of an immune response, allergic reaction, or other negative reaction.

Concern #2: The PRP injections will hurt.

They are injections, so they are going to be a bit uncomfortable. However, most patients find the pain associated with the injections to be quite minor. They're not nearly as painful as cortisone shots, so if you've ever had one of those, you can rest assured the PRP treatment will be much more tolerable. Most doctors do apply a numbing agent to the skin prior to the injections, which also helps.

Concern #3: PRP injections will cause an infection at the injection site.

Technically this is possible. The injections do pierce the skin, and if the wrong bacteria were to be introduced to the injection site, the area could become infected. However, the risk of this happening is very low. Doctors follow strict sanitation protocols to make sure the needles they use are sanitary. After your injection, the area will be covered with a bandage to keep it clean. It would be hard to accidentally contaminate the injection site after the PRP treatment. All in all, infection is not something you need to worry about with PRP injections.

Now that your concerns have been assuaged, go ahead and make your appointment for PRP treatment. It's surprisingly safe and effective for many patients.