PRP Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Non-Surgical Path to Pain Relief
How platelet-rich plasma works for knee osteoarthritis, who it helps, and what results to expect — from the RegenOrtho Palm Beach regenerative team.
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Knee pain narrows a life gradually. The walk gets shorter. Tennis becomes golf, golf becomes the cart, and eventually the stairs at home start to look like a decision.
By the time most patients sit down with us they have already been through anti-inflammatories, a cortisone injection or two, probably some physical therapy, and a suggestion about knee replacement they are not ready to accept.
Platelet-rich plasma occupies the space in between. It is among the most studied regenerative treatments for knee osteoarthritis, and in the right patient it can change how the joint feels without committing to an operation.
What PRP actually is
Platelets are known for clotting, but they also carry a dense payload of growth factors and signalling proteins — the messengers the body uses to direct repair, call in cells and regulate inflammation.
We draw a small blood sample, the same as any routine lab draw, and spin it in a centrifuge to separate and concentrate the platelets. That concentrate, many times more potent than what circulates normally, is injected under image guidance into the joint.
Because it is made from your own blood, there is no rejection risk and no allergic reaction to speak of. No synthetic drug, no donor tissue, nothing foreign.
Why patients with knee osteoarthritis consider it
Most standard treatments address the symptom rather than the environment producing it. Anti-inflammatories quiet pain but are hard on the stomach, kidneys and cardiovascular system over years. Cortisone works quickly, but repeated cortisone in one joint has been associated with cartilage thinning when overused. Hyaluronic acid helps some patients and wears off over months.
PRP is aimed differently — at calming the inflammatory environment inside the joint and supporting the tissue that remains, rather than masking pain or lubricating temporarily.
It is not a cure, and it will not regrow a surface already worn to bone. The patients who do best are the ones who understood that before they started.
Who is a good candidate?
PRP tends to suit patients who have mild to moderate osteoarthritis on imaging, still have functional cartilage rather than end-stage bone-on-bone change, have inflammation as a significant driver of their pain, and want to postpone or avoid surgery.
It is less likely to help where the joint has collapsed structurally, where the limb alignment has shifted significantly, or where the expectation is a permanent fix.
Why placement decides the outcome
Every PRP injection here goes in under ultrasound guidance. This is not a refinement — it is the difference between treatment and near-miss.
When a patient tells us PRP was tried elsewhere and did nothing, the most common explanation is that it was placed blind and never reached the target.
What to expect over the weeks that follow
Not an immediate switch. The first week or two can feel like a mild flare — that is the tissue responding, and it settles. Change generally builds across four to six weeks and continues beyond that.
Results are better when the joint is loaded properly afterwards, which is why PRP here comes with a rehabilitation plan rather than as an isolated injection.
Schedule a PRP consultation in Palm Beach
If your knee has been narrowing what you do and replacement feels premature, come in and let us image it properly. You will get a straight answer about whether there is enough joint left for PRP to work with — and if there is not, we will tell you that instead.
