An option between cortisone and surgery
The gap between a steroid injection that wears off and an operation you are not ready for is where most of our PRP patients live.
Regenerative Orthopedics
Pain Management & Regenerative Medicine
PRP for Joint, Tendon & Cartilage Restoration
Most people arrive here after physical therapy did not finish the job and before they are ready for surgery. Platelet-rich plasma is often the treatment that belongs in that gap. Every injection at Protocol Health is planned and performed by Dr. Richard Dentico, MD, a board-certified physiatrist with a sports medicine subspecialty.
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Pain Management & Regenerative Medicine
Why a physiatrist should be the one holding the needle
Physiatry — Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation — is the medical specialty devoted to restoring function without surgery. It is the natural home of regenerative injection medicine, and it is where Dr. Dentico spent his training and career. He is board certified by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with a sports medicine subspecialty, has more than fifteen years in regenerative medicine and pain management, and trained under Drs. Gerard Malanga and Jay Bowen at New Jersey Sports Medicine, one of the field's most established regenerative practices. That background matters because the hardest part of PRP is not the injection. It is deciding what is actually causing your pain, and whether PRP is the right answer for it.
What restoration-focused PRP offers
Diagnosis before injection
Lateral hip pain is usually gluteal tendinopathy, not hip arthritis. Shoulder pain may be tendon, joint or neck. An examination by a physiatrist determines where the needle goes — and whether it should go anywhere.
Ultrasound guidance where it counts
For tendon and small-joint targets, accuracy changes outcomes. Guidance is used wherever it improves placement rather than as a routine upsell.
No tissue-thinning tradeoff
Repeated corticosteroid carries a recognised risk of tendon and cartilage deterioration. PRP does not, which matters for a problem you have had for years.
Safe for competitive athletes
PRP is autologous and permitted under current anti-doping rules, unlike several alternatives.
Treated alongside the rest of your health
Tissue repair depends on blood sugar, vitamin D, thyroid and sleep. We are a clinic that tests and treats those, not an injection storefront.
Who this is for
The problems we see most
PRP performs best in mild-to-moderate degeneration and in tendons that stopped healing. It performs worst in advanced bone-on-bone arthritis, where the honest recommendation is often a surgical opinion instead. You will get that answer at the consultation.
- Knee pain from mild-to-moderate osteoarthritis, or patellar tendinopathy
- Tennis elbow and golfer's elbow that has lasted months
- Shoulder and rotator cuff tendinopathy without a full-thickness tear
- Lateral hip pain — gluteal tendinopathy and greater trochanteric pain syndrome
- Achilles tendinopathy and plantar fasciitis
- Hamstring and other chronic soft-tissue injuries that keep recurring
- Active adults and athletes who want to avoid repeated cortisone
By joint
What the research says, joint by joint
A candid summary. Where the data is strong we will say so; where it is mixed we will say that too.
Knee
The best-studied application of PRP anywhere in the body. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses consistently show improvement in pain and function versus placebo, most clearly at three to six months. Comparative analyses favour leukocyte-poor PRP over hyaluronic acid and over corticosteroid in mild-to-moderate osteoarthritis. Twelve-month results vary between trials. PRP does not regenerate cartilage that is already gone, so severity matters enormously to whether it is worth doing.
Request A ConsultationMaking it work
The injection is one part of the plan
Outcomes improve markedly when the injection sits inside a rehabilitation plan rather than replacing one.
01Progressive loading
Tendons remodel under graded load. We will give you a plan for the weeks after treatment and coordinate with your physical therapist where that helps.
02Pause anti-inflammatories
NSAIDs interfere with the inflammatory cascade PRP depends on. You will get specific timing for stopping and restarting them.
03Expect soreness
A few days of increased ache after injection is normal and expected. It is not a sign the treatment failed.
04Plan for a series
A course of injections spaced over weeks is common, particularly for knee osteoarthritis. We will tell you the likely number up front.
Your visit
From examination to injection
Same-day, in our Scarsdale office.
01Physiatric examination
A proper musculoskeletal exam plus review of any MRI or X-ray you have. This is the step that determines whether PRP is the right treatment and which structure to target.
02The plan, in plain language
What we think is wrong, whether PRP is likely to help, how many injections, and what the alternatives are — including surgery, if that is the better path.
03Draw and preparation
Blood is drawn in office and centrifuged to concentrate the platelet fraction while you wait.
04Guided injection
Injection into the target tissue, with ultrasound guidance where placement accuracy affects the result. Local anaesthetic is used.
05Rehabilitation and review
A loading plan for the following weeks, then follow-up to judge response before deciding on any further treatment.
Westchester and lower Fairfield
Get an examination before you get an injection
Protocol Health is at 700 White Plains Road, Scarsdale — convenient to Bronxville, Eastchester, White Plains, New Rochelle, Tarrytown, Rye and lower Fairfield County. Book a consultation with Dr. Dentico and find out whether PRP is genuinely the right treatment for your knee, shoulder, hip or tendon.
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