PRP Therapy in Scarsdale, NY

We draw a small amount of your blood, spin it in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets, and inject that concentrate into the tissue that is not healing. Platelets carry growth factors — the signalling proteins your body already uses to repair itself. The idea is not to add a drug. It is to deliver a much higher concentration of your own repair signals to a place where circulation is poor and healing has stalled. Nothing synthetic is introduced, which is why PRP is used in athletes subject to anti-doping rules.

PRP tends to help most in mild-to-moderate degeneration and in tendons that have failed to heal on their own. It helps least in advanced, bone-on-bone arthritis, where it may reduce pain but cannot rebuild cartilage that is no longer there. We would rather tell you that at the consultation than after you have paid for a course of injections.

• Mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis that has not responded to physical therapy
• Chronic tendon problems — tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, Achilles or patellar tendinopathy
• Rotator cuff and shoulder tendinopathy without a full-thickness tear
• Gluteal tendinopathy and greater trochanteric pain — the most common cause of lateral hip pain
• Plantar fasciitis that has persisted beyond several months
• Early androgenetic hair thinning, in men and women
• Athletes and active adults who want to avoid repeated corticosteroid injections

PRP is studied unevenly across conditions. Below is a fair summary of where the published evidence is strong, where it is promising, and where it is thin. We would rather set expectations correctly than oversell a treatment.

Knee osteoarthritis. The most studied use. Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses show PRP improving pain and function compared with placebo, with the clearest effects between three and six months. Several head-to-head analyses find leukocyte-poor PRP outperforming both hyaluronic acid and corticosteroid in mild-to-moderate disease. Results at twelve months are less consistent across trials, and PRP does not regrow lost cartilage.

Tennis elbow. Lateral epicondylitis is arguably PRP's strongest indication outside the knee. Randomised trials support its use for chronic cases, and a 2026 systematic review of RCTs found complication rates comparable to corticosteroid and saline injections, with no serious adverse events reported.

Hair thinning. For androgenetic alopecia, most trials show increased hair density and shaft thickness versus placebo at three and six months. Preparation matters more here than almost anywhere else — double-spin preparations outperform single-spin, and activated PRP has performed better than non-activated in comparative work.

Plantar fasciitis. Studies generally show PRP performing comparably to corticosteroid injection for plantar fasciitis, without the tissue-thinning concern that limits how often steroid can be repeated. A reasonable option once several months of stretching, orthotics and load management have not resolved it.

Rotator cuff and Achilles. Promising but less settled. PRP is widely used for rotator cuff and Achilles tendinopathy and many patients do well, but trial results are more mixed than for elbow or knee. We will be candid about that uncertainty and about whether imaging changes the plan.

Where evidence is thin. Hip osteoarthritis, sacroiliac pain and advanced bone-on-bone arthritis have weaker or conflicting data. Lateral hip pain from gluteal tendinopathy is a better PRP target than hip joint arthritis itself — a distinction that requires an examination to make.

Uses your own biology. PRP is autologous — prepared from your own blood at your own visit. There is no synthetic implant and no foreign material, which is why allergic reaction is not a meaningful risk.

A step between injections and surgery. Many patients arrive having been offered cortisone or an operation and wanting something in between. PRP is often that middle option, particularly for tendon problems that have not settled with rest and physical therapy.

It does not weaken tissue the way steroids can. Repeated corticosteroid injections are associated with tendon and cartilage deterioration over time. PRP does not carry that particular tradeoff, which matters when a problem is chronic rather than acute.

Performed by a physiatrist, not a technician. Dr. Dentico is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with a sports medicine subspecialty. Physiatry is the specialty built around non-surgical musculoskeletal medicine, which is exactly what PRP is.

Same-day, in-office, no general anaesthetic. Draw, spin, inject. Most patients are in and out inside an hour and drive themselves home.

An honest read on whether it will help you. PRP is not right for everything or everyone. Part of the value of seeing a physiatrist is being told plainly when a different treatment — or a surgeon — is the better answer.

Straightforward, same-day, and entirely in our Scarsdale office.

1. Examination first. Dr. Dentico examines you and reviews any imaging you already have. The point of this step is to identify what is actually generating your pain — the injection is worth nothing if it goes into the wrong structure.
2. Blood draw. A small volume of blood is drawn in the office, exactly as it would be for a lab test.
3. Preparation. The sample is centrifuged to separate and concentrate the platelet fraction while you wait.
4. Injection. The concentrate is injected into the target tissue, using ultrasound guidance where accuracy matters. Local anaesthetic is used for comfort.
5. Recovery and follow-up. Expect some soreness for a few days — that inflammatory response is part of the mechanism. We schedule follow-up to assess response and decide whether further injections are worthwhile.

Platelet-rich plasma therapy uses a concentrate made from your own blood. We draw a small sample, spin it in a centrifuge to separate the platelet fraction, and inject that concentrate into the tissue that is not healing. Platelets carry growth factors — the signalling proteins your body already uses to repair itself. Nothing synthetic is introduced, which is why PRP is permitted under current anti-doping rules.

The strongest evidence is for mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis and for lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow). PRP is also commonly used for rotator cuff and Achilles tendinopathy, plantar fasciitis, gluteal tendinopathy causing lateral hip pain, and early androgenetic hair thinning. Evidence is thinner for hip joint osteoarthritis and for advanced bone-on-bone arthritis.

No. PRP can reduce pain and support the tissue you still have, but it does not rebuild cartilage that is already gone. In advanced, bone-on-bone arthritis a surgical opinion is usually the more useful conversation, and we will tell you that at the consultation rather than after a course of injections.

Usually a series rather than a single treatment. In knee osteoarthritis, published comparisons found triple injections outperforming single injections over twelve months, with three injections the most commonly used protocol. You will be told the expected number before you start.

Local anaesthetic is used during the injection. Expect several days of increased soreness afterwards — that inflammatory response is part of how the treatment works, not a sign it failed. Most patients drive themselves home and return to desk work the same or next day.

Richard Dentico, MD, a board-certified physiatrist with a sports medicine subspecialty and more than fifteen years in regenerative medicine. He trained under Drs. Gerard Malanga and Jay Bowen at New Jersey Sports Medicine. Every PRP plan starts with an examination, because the hardest part is identifying what is actually generating your pain.

Generally not — PRP is typically a self-pay treatment. That is another reason to be certain you are a good candidate before starting, which is what the initial examination is for.