Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy in Houston, Texas
Platelets do more than clot. When they degranulate they release a concentrated payload of growth factors — the same signaling molecules the body deploys to repair injured tissue. PRP concentrates those platelets from your own blood and delivers them where healing has stalled.
What is PRP Therapy?
A small volume of the patient's blood is drawn and spun in a centrifuge, separating the platelet-rich fraction from red cells and plasma. That concentrate is then injected, under ultrasound guidance, into the injured tendon, ligament, or joint.
Because it is autologous — derived entirely from the patient's own blood — there is no risk of rejection or disease transmission.
Where the Evidence Is Strongest
PRP is not one therapy. Preparation methods vary widely in platelet concentration, leukocyte content, and activation, and outcomes vary with them. That heterogeneity is the main reason study results conflict.
Better supported:
- Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), where PRP has outperformed corticosteroid at long-term follow-up in multiple trials
- Knee osteoarthritis , mild to moderate
- Patellar and Achilles tendinopathy
Less well supported:
- Rotator cuff tears, particularly full-thickness
- Acute muscle injury
- Advanced, bone-on-bone arthritis
An Honest Framing
PRP is generally not covered by insurance and is billed as a self-pay procedure. It is safe, it is autologous, and for the right tendon in the right patient it has a defensible evidence base. It is not a miracle, and any clinic presenting it as one is selling something.
Corticosteroid provides faster relief; PRP works more slowly and may last longer. Neither substitutes for the loading program that actually remodels tendon.
A Candid Conversation at Remix Medical
We will tell you plainly whether your condition is one where PRP has evidence behind it. Contact Remix Medical to schedule a consultation with a board-certified pain management physician in Houston.