Is PRP Right for Your Knee Arthritis? How We Approach It at LISM

A patient sat across from me not long ago, describing a knee that used to carry him through eighteen holes of golf without a second thought. Now it aches by the ninth hole. He'd read about platelet-rich plasma — PRP — online, and he had one question: "Is this the answer for me?"

It's one of the most common questions I hear from active adults in Central Kentucky dealing with knee osteoarthritis. And the honest answer is: it depends — on your knee, your goals, your health, and a few other factors we need to talk through together before I'd ever recommend it.

What PRP actually is?

Platelet-rich plasma is made from your own blood. We draw a sample, spin it in a centrifuge to concentrate the platelets and the growth factors they carry, and inject that concentrate into the joint. Rather than putting out inflammation the way a steroid injection does, PRP works more slowly — it changes the biological environment inside the joint and encourages the tissue to respond and remodel over time. Most patients don't feel the full effect for eight to twelve weeks, but for the right patient, the benefit tends to hold up far longer than a steroid injection does.

Why we don't offer PRP as a stand-alone service

You won't find a "PRP injection" button to click on our website, and that's intentional. PRP isn't the right fit for every knee, and offering it as an à la carte, walk-in-and-inject service would mean skipping the parts of the conversation that actually determine whether it works.

Instead, every patient who's considering PRP goes through it as part of a comprehensive consultation — or, if you're a Direct Primary Care member, it's simply part of the ongoing conversation we're already having about your joint health. Either way, we work through the same questions together:

● Whether PRP is likely to help your specific knee, given your imaging, your symptoms, and how far the arthritis has progressed

● The indications that make you a good candidate, and the contraindications that might point us toward a different option instead

● What lifestyle factors — weight, activity level, sleep, systemic inflammation — are worth optimizing before the injection, since those factors can blunt how well PRP works

● How we'll support the joint after the injection, including a strengthening plan, so the benefit has the best chance of lasting

● Whether a different approach — or a combination of approaches — actually serves you better than PRP alone

For patients who are candidates, I use ultrasound guidance to make sure the injection actually reaches the joint space, and I aim for platelet concentrations that reflect what the current research shows produces a meaningful, lasting result — not just a token dose. And I pair it with targeted exercises, because injections change the environment inside the joint, but the muscles supporting that joint still need the work to keep you moving well.

Sometimes PRP isn't the answer — and that's a good conversation to have too

Some patients come in assuming PRP is the option, only to find that a different approach fits their knee and their life better right now. That's the value of talking it through with a physician who isn't rushing to the next injection — we can look at the whole picture and land on whatever actually helps.

The key takeaway

PRP can be a genuinely valuable option for knee osteoarthritis — but the value comes from getting the whole plan right, not just the injection itself. That starts with an honest conversation about whether it's right for you.

And if you want to dig into the evidence yourself first, start here

https://www.srikanthnithyanandammd.com/insights/steroid-or-prp-for-knee-osteoarthritis-what-the-evidence-says