Foot and ankle pain can make everyday activities difficult, whether you’re an athlete, you hike on the weekends, or you’re simply trying to stay active. When injuries affect tendons, ligaments, or joints in the foot and ankle, many people worry that surgery may be the only solution.
Fortunately, that isn’t always the case.
At Rocky Mountain Foot & Ankle Center, our expert podiatry team offers several nonsurgical, regenerative medicine treatments that help you heal at the source rather than just mask symptoms.
Here, we focus on one particular type of regenerative medicine: platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy.
Your blood already contains platelets. Platelets, or thrombocytes, are small, colorless, disk-shaped blood cell fragments produced from bone marrow cells. They help with clotting and wound healing.
PRP therapy uses the platelets you already have to help accelerate tissue repair. There’s no need for synthetic components, so it’s considered a safe and natural approach to regenerative treatment.
PRP therapy consists of these steps:
During PRP treatment, your provider draws a small sample of your blood. The process is similar to any other blood draw you’ve had.
We then place the blood sample in a centrifuge to separate the blood’s components so we can concentrate the platelets. Normally, your whole blood contains only 1% platelets. Most PRP injections can contain three times that amount, though some may be higher depending on centrifugation techniques.
Your platelet-rich plasma serum is unique to you. No one else uses your serum except for you.
We inject the platelet-rich solution into the injured area of your foot or ankle. The concentrated growth factors help stimulate tissue repair, improve circulation, and encourage the healing of damaged structures.
At Rocky Mountain Foot & Ankle, we often use PRP therapy to treat chronic injuries that haven’t responded to traditional treatments like rest, bracing, or physical therapy. In some cases, PRP therapy can help you avoid the need for surgery.
You might consider PRP therapy if you have:
Instead of simply masking pain, PRP therapy supports your body’s natural healing response, which is why doctors often use it for chronic injuries that haven’t improved with rest or other conservative treatments.
And PRP therapy still complements other nonsurgical treatments, such as modified activities, strengthening exercises, and orthotic devices.
Even if you need surgery, PRP therapy can support your healing. Our team always looks for conservative, nonsurgical options first, but when an injury is too severe to heal on its own, such as a traumatic fracture that needs pins or other fixation, surgery may be the safest next step.
Surgery and regenerative medicine aren’t mutually exclusive. Because PRP contains concentrated healing growth factors from your own blood, it can help support recovery after certain foot and ankle procedures.
Persistent foot or ankle pain doesn’t always require surgery. Talk to a specialist at Rocky Mountain Foot & Ankle to determine your best treatment options.
Schedule an evaluation in Wheat Ridge, Arvada, Thornton, Evergreen, or South Granby, Colorado, to find out if PRP therapy is the right path for you.
