Arthritis Today reports while platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections won’t cure arthritis, it may relieve symptoms.

PRP injections use a concentrated version of your own blood to help heal damaged tissue, and it has been shown to reduce pain and increase function. When assessing PRP to hyaluronic acid to improve pain and function of knee osteoarthritis (OA), PRP is typically more effective. In non-comparative studies, it consistently improves arthritis symptoms. Currently while there is no evidence demonstrating that PRP can grow new cartilage, researchers continue to investigate PRP for other difficult-to-treat conditions (i.e., finger OA and degenerative disc disease). Brian C. Halpern, MD, primary care sports medicine physician at HSS, noted that PRP treatment in the early stages of OA may delay or avert the need for joint replacement surgery.

This article appeared in the September/October print edition.