PRP (platelet rich plasma) therapy for disc disease?

@cedarrose Hello Cedarrose, I am a spine surgery patient, and I like to follow research related to the spine. I did find this study about injecting platlet rich plasma into spinal discs. It does sound promising. This may be considered experimental and may not be covered by insurance or Medicare.

"Platelet-rich plasma injections: an emerging therapy for chronic discogenic low back pain"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5911760/
Here is another link. https://www.spineuniverse.com/treatments/prp-back-pain-help-or-hype

There is also a government study about to start with clinical trials on this for people up to 60 years old Here is the link to that information.
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04816747
I am wondering about your surgeon's comment of having too many levels to be able to operate on. Surgeons can give different opinions, and you may want to get another opinion from someone else. If you are talking about lower back surgery, it is possible that doing surgery with the existing problem that you have with your knee replacements would be too much, and possibly cause more pain or disability with both of those issues together. My spine surgery was for my neck, and my doctor told me that lumbar spine surgery is a much more difficult recovery.

I understand how using an assist for walking can be disheartening. I did experience those feelings too when I broke my ankle and found out just how hard it was to navigate. I had a walker and hobbled my way around the house. My ankle still gives me pain especially when I walk on uneven surfaces. For me, this could become an issue with walking and balance in later years. I tend to think about a cane as a walking stick, and many people use those for balance when they go hiking.

Could you share what type of spine issue you have and what type of pain it is causing? Do you have other health issues that could affect healing from surgery?

This is my first post and you'll have to excuse me if this has already been discussed. My wife has suffered from degenerative disc disease for years and we're considering yet another surgery. But has anyone experienced platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment? If so, please let us know what the results have been.Many thanks.

Yes it is covered previously and you might wish to do a search for. PRP is not FDA approved because it has not should to be efficacious for pain relief. Docs who do back surgery try to see it because it’s cash in their pocket from the patient as insurance does not cover it yet.

@mrm3601 Welcome to Connect. I certainly understand why we all hope we can avoid spine surgery and look for other ways to help. PRP is platlet rich plasma, essentially platelets from your blood that are involved in clotting of blood. The other thing often discussed is stem cell injections that are mesenchymal cells taken from bone marrow. You may be interested in this article regarding both of these for treating the spine. Typically, traditional treatments such as spine surgery are what will be offered at this time. There is a phone number in this article that you can call and ask if regenerative medicine would be of help in your circumstance.

"Science Saturday: Could regenerative medicine relieve neck, back pain?"
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/science-saturday-could-regenerative-medicine-relieve-neck-back-pain/
You may also be interested in this discussion,

Spine Health - "PRP injections for lumbar issues"
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/prp-injections-for-lumbar-issues/