PRP Therapy—Healing from Within

PRP Therapy—Healing from Within

What is PRP therapy, and how can it support the body’s natural healing process?

On this episode of Moments That Matter, host Melise Oakley talks with Rebecca Edmondson, founder of Priority Medical Group, about Platelet-Rich Plasma therapy, commonly known as PRP.

Rebecca explains how PRP uses components from a patient’s own blood, how the procedure is performed, and the types of injuries, pain, and medical conditions it may be used to treat. She also discusses what patients can expect and why PRP is becoming a growing option in regenerative medicine.

Moments That Matter is presented by Voyage Senior Living and provides helpful conversations, trusted resources, and encouragement for seniors, caregivers, and families.

This episode is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for professional medical advice.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Moments That Matter is brought to you by Binkley Ross Family of Funeral Homes and First Southern Bank.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Welcome to Moments That Matter. I'm Melise Oakley with The Voyage Gene of Living. Today we are back again with Rebecca Edmondson, founder of Priority Medical Group. Our subject is procedure called PRP. One I know all about. Rebecca, thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Thanks, Melise, for having me.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

I like to talk about this because I've personally been a bit on uh the side of what you've done with PRP. But let's just educate individuals. What is PRP?

SPEAKER_01 0:55

PRP is a product of our own body. So it is a component of our blood. It's our platelet component of our blood. And so I like to tell my patients, you know, if you cut your arm and you form a scab, uh, it is platelets that are there to mediate the healing response. And so we you uh we take the blood from the body and we spin it down and we concentrate uh the platelets, and we can use this for so many different things.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

What is your experience with the PRP? Like how did you get into the PRP? Because there's a lot of people that don't know what that is.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Well, the funny part about that was I was working in orthopedics, and so when I first got out of school, I had as a physician assistant, we inject a lot of joints. We inject it with steroids, so people know about that. We know about um hyuronic acid, we know about these um different modalities that are supposed to help um prolong um surgery or prevent or delay um having to have surgery. And so I am watching some sports on TV, and one of my sports people were out for PRP injections. And I was like, what the heck is a PRP injection? I should know if it's an injection, and that's what I do. And so as I did my research, I realized this is what rich people do. Uh, this is what people that are athletic do, that are getting paid the big bucks. They can't just go under the knife whenever they get hurt, right? They will lose their contract. People, I mean, they'll be out lots of money. As I get to looking at that, I was like, wait, I would like to be treated like a multi-million dollar player. So how would I get to do that? So as I researched about PRP, I there was uh some training down in Tampa that I was able to go to and learn how to do PRP myself. Like you said, there's professional athletes that have it. I have had the vampire facial and what what exactly is that? If the platelets are present, um, what we are doing is we are placing a concentrated platelet in the area that we want you to uh signal uh for growth factors to come in and start to mediate healing in that area. So essentially we are tricking the body into thinking it just got hurt. We all know if I just cut my arm and it's bleeding into that area, my my wound is gaping open. And I can see there's no skin in between the gaping area. But in the presence of my scab, it scabs over, as long as I don't pick it. Thank you, mom, then I won't scar as bad because in the presence of platelets, it will mediate healing, right? Using that piece of how our body heals, we can manipulate this by drawing blood from your arm, spinning it down, and we're gonna cause micro trauma to the face, which will help heal, or help, I guess really what it's going to do is help encourage blood flow to that area, which blood flow is gonna bring in the uh healing properties we need to uh start to remodel.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

And it helps with age spots. Yes. It helps with um, I know that I had had uh melasma. Right. And and then I also had a um a mole that was taken off. Uh-huh. And we put PRP on that and it healed. But the scar wick and the scarring and so forth.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Well, I got into it because um I was suffering from lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and my joints were miserable. I really didn't learn about PRP to help my patients. Uh, it wasn't on my radar at that point in time. I was uh had I was struggling to even wear shoes. I probably had a thousand pairs where I would go and try them on at the store, and then when I get them home, I'd just not be able to wear them very long because my feet were so damaged with arthritis. And so I was feeling very desperate. And so I actually learned how to do PRP to inject myself. And so uh that was my first experience. So here I am at my job uh doing this for myself. And I just started getting such great results from uh these treatments. And I had almost convinced myself that it was um I was in remission, but then I had the opportunity to uh start working at a place that I could uh offer PRP injections with a certification. And so I remember the first time that I actually did PRP with a patient and how ecstatic they were about the fact that they were like, I thought my life was over, it wasn't gonna get any better. He was very emotional and he said his family was in the lobby and he wanted them to come and talk to me because when I first uh saw him, he was so uncomfortable. He was just moving in his chair and he just seemed like he couldn't even concentrate. He was hurting so bad. And so my very first patient, I was able to use the PRP injections with him into the area that was uh that he was hurting at. And uh each time that I did it, I noticed his mood was improving. Yeah. And then when he came in, he was like, oh my goodness, this changes. And I remember feeling that joy of like, dang, it wasn't just me. It was it, it's amazing that it works. So it did it put it on the radar for me and it made me offer it up to more and more. The more I did research on it, it wasn't just about orthopedic procedures. It went from doing joint injections to um yeah, and um I had patients that didn't want to have or were surgery was contraindicated in that we were able to use PRP to help them uh uh get better or uh help with their mobility and their pain. And then uh it went from the aesthetics because I found out that you could do that and I like to do things that are fun like that. Yeah, exactly. But results may vary. Of course, yes. So I found um in the six years that I have been doing PRP, I've always been that clinician that I I don't like to fail. And so when I have a group that didn't get as much as I did, or that first guy out of it, then I'm always re-evaluating like what was different. There are certain conditions where you may have low platelet count where no matter how much I try to concentrate it, it I can't get it too. And then really I'm not uh healing with the injection. I'm promoting your body to heal itself. And so if you're not um healthy enough, malnourished, or have a disease condition that's going on, this is where you see that variability of uh whether it works for some or doesn't. However, I do feel like if um you you start working with the patient to help improve their nutrition and help looking for those treatments of the underlying cause, that um it does improve the outcome, even in patients that may be a little difficult to treat, but we've had pretty good success.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

I can tell from firsthand that I had, you know, uh I've had several surgeons say that they needed to do some surgery on my feet. And we have done uh several different treatments, and it's unbelievable and it's life-changing what you have done for me. And that's why I want to educate people because I think it's very important that there are things that you can do. And I love the fact that you're always trying to find that. Now, where could they find this PRP?

SPEAKER_01 8:37

So we do offer it at our uh Marion location next to Kroger's. Um, we have uh two medical providers that offer PRP injections. We also have a physical therapist in chiropractic care.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

It is a process, and it's a whole body.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

Yeah, absolutely. So you come in and you get screened and we look at the condition, whether it be uh skin or uh hair loss or joint uh pain or uh scar removal or scar improvement, I should say.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

Well, and you treated some of a dear friend of mine that had cancer and she you treated her scalp. She had chemo, lost her hair, and now she's got beautiful hair. I'm like, it has come back like lush.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

It's so crazy. It is it is fantastic. You know, that's one of those where it takes a clinician to evaluate and understand the um the level of scarring, or if it's scarring, if it's scarring, it's you have uh a much better improved outcome. Um but yeah, um, they would come in and be evaluated by the provider and then they would uh talk through the treatment plan. But most of the time it's simple. Uh you can continue your normal uh activities. Uh, we just ask you don't take certain uh non-steroidal anti-inflammatories and no steroids and that sort of thing. Just little simple things that you can do. Uh, we may tweak your diet and you may lose a few pounds while you're doing it. And then um, I think the best part about it is is that it just feels like you're healing and um and it's with your own body.

SPEAKER_02 10:11

Yeah, like that's what I had a lot of people say, oh my gosh, this is so crazy. But I'm like, it's not, it's it's your own body promoting healthy cells, you know, so forth.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

Absolutely. So that's what's so cool about it. Also, insurance. They'll say things like, uh, it doesn't work for everybody, but neither does Prozac, but they'll pay for that, you know. Right. I think what you have to do is realize this this investment in your body. Right. I don't think it's a huge investment to ask not to be miserable. If you ask that man that I helped and his family, the quality of life, uh, he said it would he didn't know how often he said he couldn't do something because of pain until he was out of pain. And it brought him to tears because he could have quality of life. And so we keep shoving money into the bank, uh, waiting for a rainy day. But I mean, you're miserable. You need to invest in your body, your vehicle, instead of buying these expensive cars and Netflix and junk food. If uh if you look at copies. And let's be honest, what's your copay and deductible for your uh your surgery that you're gonna end up having? They don't pay for that, you know. And so when you look at the cost of uh PRP, it's it is an investment and um for your quality of life. Yes, and patients often ask me, how long does it last? And I do like to use my own example. I have a scar on my arm, I've injected the scar, it's dissolved out the scar tissue, it gives a um visual aid of how long does it last? Well, I would have to be cut again for that scar tissue to come back. So there's a good example of this is promoting healing in your body. And most patients that are repeat customers are patients that have benefited in their right knee and now they want their left knee done. It's not a matter of everyone can find the money to take care of themselves. We just invest it in the wrong direction. But it's very reasonable.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

And you also have specials a lot of times you run specials all the time and it's very affordable. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 12:17

Um, typically we'll do two areas. You pay for the first area, I'll do the second area for the half price. And so we do things like that. We try to keep the cost low. At our clinic, we probably charge uh a third of what you would get in a big city. Yeah. Right. Because I want you guys to know. I want you guys to feel the difference. I want you to be able to experience the I I'm not hiding a secret of uh weapon in my back pockets, you know. I want to be able to offer it. It does no good for me to go through all this training and not be able to offer it to our community and make it affordable for people that are, you know, average shows.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

Well, that's the thing. Like with your clinic, it has changed my life. And so I want to spread the information because there is a lot of stuff that's coming out of your clinic and your providers that is there. You've surrounded yourself with amazing people, and so thank you for doing that. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you, Melise. If you enjoyed today's conversation, please subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who may benefit from learning more about the health care resources available in our community. Until next time, remember that every moment matters.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Moments That Matter is brought to you by Binkley Ross Family of Funeral Homes. Locally owned and operated, Binkley Ross Funeral Home, Blue Funeral Home, Mitchell Hughes Funeral Home. Call 618-997-7771 or go to BinkleyRoss.com. And First Southern Bank. Bank with people you know who know and love Southern Illinois. Community banking at its best. Find us at FirstSuthernbank.net.