PRP Frequently Asked Questions

Health & Hope Institute strives to provide a comprehensive and highly skilled level of care to every patient. We offer some of the best and most advanced technologies for regeneration, repair and healing of tissues, in addition to very precise manual therapies, several holistic and natural treatments. The therapeutic work offered at Health & Hope Institute, is performed with the highest concern for our patients wellbeing and healing. It is the intention of this practice to do everything we can to provide the most effective treatment or combination of treatments for every patient. In some cases, there will be a need to refer our patients to other doctors and suggest other modalities of treatment. Most patients receive a combination of the therapies offered at Health & Hope Institute, in an effort to cover all foreseen (and sometimes even unforeseen) aspects of the patient’s condition that could be related to the recovery of their vitality and their healing. Despite our genuine commitment to be in service, ethics, and professional efforts, while providing the most appropriate and high quality level of care, there are no guarantees of successful treatment for any specific condition, nor promises of healing, Healing depends on a multitude of factors, including but not limited to the general health condition and vitality of each patient, as well as, genetics, hormones, previous trauma, surgeries, nutrition, rest, sleep, level of energy, individual constitutional deficiencies, daily and frequent stressors, structural misalignment, type of work performed, activities of daily living, family & community support systems, and any number of other potentially aggravating physical, emotional and psychological factors.

Autologous PRP injections are used with high success employing the Hackett-Hemwal approach for the treatment of ligament laxity, the musculo-skeletal system, osteoarthritis, orthopedic conditions and sports’ injuries. PRP injections in combination with other nutraceuticals and vitamins, may increase joint stability, help improve posture, diminish pain and enhance functionality of the spinal column and the joints. PRP Prolotherapy may greatly help improve the patient’s quality of life, diminish the risk of recurrent injury and prevent falls due to weakness and instability.
Other common uses of PRP injections are hair loss management, reduction of accelerated skin aging, skin sagging, loss of volume, burns, acne scarring and wrinkles. Some of the main benefits observed with the application of PRP Prolotherapy are the re-establishment and/or improvement in circulation and vitality in areas where there is thinning, atrophy and weakening of the tissues, including neuro-vascular structures and connective tissues.

Yes, PRP is offered as an Outpatient office procedure.
PRP injections are a more complex Out Patient office procedure than Physical Therapy or Acupuncture.
After the prolotherapy injections, the patients may go home or back to light duty for a day or two. Taking it easy right after the injection procedure will allow the patients to rest their tissues, to cope better with the inflammatory response and its accompanying increased temporary soreness, and to diminish the normal weight bearing or physical load/demand on the treated area.
Depending on the area treated, safety and comfort level, most of the patients are able to resume driving within 20-30 min after finishing the procedure. To increase comfort and safety, a few patients may need a loved one or a close friend to pick them up.

In order to avoid a very critical and easily avoidable situation called Hypoglycemia, it is “extremely important” that ‘the patient eats really well before coming to receive his/her regenerative injection treatment”. It is also important to bring a couple of complex carbohydrate foods, healthy snacks and fruits to eat during the time being at the office in between and/or after the procedures. Being well hydrated and having proper electrolytes will also ease the procedure a lot for the patient.

Hypoglycemia is a drastic drop in blood glucose levels that could affect the brain temporarily and cause symptoms like lightheadedness, tremors, fasciculations, coldness, sweating, labored breathing, fainting, and marked fatigue.
The day of the regenerative injection procedure, the patient most probably will be at the office for an average of 90 min for a single procedure or area to be treated or up to 2 1/2 – 3 hrs for multiple areas of regenerative injection procedures.

In order to avoid the risk of Hypoglycemia, if the patient has not been able to eat a nutritious meal with protein and complex carbohydrates, the treatment will most probably be rescheduled.

Based on medical research, the severity of the patient’s and current clinical literature, a series of 3 to 5 regenerative injection treatments are recommended to help the patient achieve the best improvement in their condition and long term beneficial results (usually 12 to 18 months). PRP Regenerative Injections require a higher financial investment than PT or Acupuncture alone may require.
In our 12+ years of experience utilizing the Hackett – Hemwall approach for regenerative joint injections, about 80% of the patients reported a marked improvement in their condition and symptoms ranging from 60% to up to 85%.
About 5% of the population of patients treated at Health & Hope Institue have reported improvements between 85% to 97% and about 3% of the patients have reported 100% improvement in their condition and symptoms.
Only about 10% of patients reported that their condition improved by about 40% to 60%.
Due to the severity of their symptoms, very complex trauma, structural misalignment and advanced conditions, about 2% of the patients may not experience significant improvement. They may be recommended to have surgery or other more invasive procedures as needed.

At Health & Hope Institute, PA, we started offering regenerative injections for Skin and Facial Rejuvenation with Hyaluronic Acid, nutraceuticals and vitamins in January of 2005. After completing additional training in Hackett- Hemwall Regenerative Prolotherapy Injections for 2 years, cocktails of Dextrose solutions with vitamins and nutraceuticals were offered to the patients to improve joint stability starting in 2007.
Similar regenerative procedures and injections with PRP have been offered since 2008. We started utilizing the Selphyl technology and their separation kits, which were highly expensive at that time, as there were only a couple of companies offering specialized Autologous Platelet Rich Plasma separation kits. A few months later the competition arrived and today we count with a diversity of companies offering excellent kits at a moderate price for the separation and concentration of the platelets, the stem cells and the growth factors found in the patient’s own plasma. It has been found that the quality of the purity of PRP separation kits has to do a lot with the long term results, and at Health & Hope Institute, we use some of the best PRP separation technologies available in the USA.

For some patients there may be some injuries where the use of PRP could be very useful, and only in a few cases, there may be very strong traumatic and lesional chains, adhesions and structural misalignments, traction injuries and torsions of the musculoskeletal system that may require additional care like Visceral-Vascular-Neural and Spinal Manipulation, Lymphatic Drainage, Brain Therapy and CST, or more invasive and advanced interventions like surgery, for a more prolonged relief.
Every case is studied thoroughly and the patients are presented with the most beneficial possibilities. Together the patient and his/her doctor(s) make pertinent care decisions based on exhaustive clinical judgment, practitioner training/experience, and present medical literature.

Pricing can vary depending on what PRP treatment you are having done. Please call our office for more details 407-366-0303