What is Whiplash?
Whiplash is a type of injury common in car accidents, but it can happen in other types of accidents as well. Falls, extreme sports, and other high-impact activities can also produce the rigorous back-and-forth forces that cause whiplash injuries. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a new approach to treating whiplash that can shorten recovery time and reduce pain.
Whiplash Symptoms
Whiplash occurs when rapid acceleration/deceleration suddenly whips the neck backwards, then forwards. This puts extreme stress on the cervical spine, and can cause both physiological and psychological symptoms, such as:
- Headaches, neck pain, and neck instability
- Dizziness and nausea
- Visual impairment
- Numbness, weakness, or tingling that radiates into the arm
- Difficulty with balance and coordination
- Irritability, depression, troubled sleeping, or PTSD
- Nine out of ten cases of whiplash can be healed within just a few short months, with physical therapy and pain medication. But sometimes, the damage to the ligament or joint is so extensive, that your body has a difficult time mobilizing all of the resources that it needs to completely heal the tissue.
PRP Therapy for Whiplash Treatment
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is a type of biotherapy that harnesses your body’s natural regenerative powers to heal tricky soft tissue injuries. Using a mixture created from your own blood, PRP therapy targets pain at its source, bathing damaged tissues in platelets and other biological proteins to stimulate natural healing.
PRP is a great choice for treating severe cases of whiplash, because platelets release growth factors that call stem cells to the site of damage. From there, the stem cells can begin to repair and rebuild the complex network of ligaments injured by whiplash.
Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection
A platelet-rich plasma injection is a non-surgical procedure, and can be administered in the office in about an hour. You may see some relief after your first injection, but some injuries may take up to four injections to completely heal.
At your appointment, blood will be drawn, then processed in our lab to produce platelet-rich Advanced Plasma Protein (APP). APP will then be re-injected into the damaged ligaments in your neck.
Advanced Plasma Protein
Advanced Plasma Protein is Nuvo Spine’s trademarked PRP mixture. APP contains a proprietary blend of biological proteins formulated to stop cartilage degeneration. It also contains fewer white blood cells than other PRP formulations, as an excess of white blood cells has been shown to damage the synovial fluid lining of spinal joints.
