What if your body already held the biological tools it needed to repair itself — and all it required was a concentrated dose, delivered precisely where healing was needed most?

That is exactly the principle behind Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy: a regenerative treatment that uses your own blood to accelerate the healing of damaged tissues, joints, tendons, skin, and more.

At Neo Clinics in Girona, PRP therapy is one of our most requested regenerative treatments — used by patients ranging from professional athletes recovering from sports injuries to individuals seeking natural anti-aging skin rejuvenation. This guide explains everything you need to know.

What Is PRP Therapy?

PRP therapy is a medical treatment that involves extracting a small sample of the patient’s own blood, processing it to concentrate the platelets and growth factors it contains, and then reinjecting this concentrated plasma into a targeted area of the body to stimulate natural repair and regeneration.

Platelets are the components of blood responsible for clotting and healing. But beyond their role in stopping bleeding, platelets are powerhouses of biological signalling — they release a cascade of growth factors and cytokines that direct the body’s repair processes, stimulate stem cell activity, promote new blood vessel formation, and drive tissue regeneration.

In PRP therapy, we harness this natural healing capacity and deliver it in concentrated form — at concentrations several times higher than what circulates in normal blood — directly to the tissue that needs repair.

Because PRP uses the patient’s own biological material, there is virtually zero risk of allergic reaction, immune rejection, or infection transmission. It is one of the safest and most natural regenerative treatments available in modern medicine.

How Is PRP Prepared and Administered?

The process is straightforward and minimally invasive:

Step 1: Blood Draw

A small sample of blood — typically 15–60 ml depending on the application — is drawn from your arm, exactly as it would be for a routine blood test.

Step 2: Centrifugation

The blood sample is placed in a specialised centrifuge machine that spins at high speed, separating the blood into its components. The platelet-rich plasma — a golden-coloured layer rich in growth factors — is separated and prepared for injection.

Step 3: Optional Activation

Depending on the application, the PRP may be activated with calcium chloride or other agents to trigger the immediate release of growth factors, enhancing the treatment’s potency.

Step 4: Injection

The concentrated PRP is injected directly into the target area — a joint, tendon, muscle, area of skin, or the scalp — using precise injection technique. For joint injections, ultrasound guidance is often used to ensure accuracy.

The entire process takes approximately 45–90 minutes from blood draw to completion.

What Conditions Does PRP Treat?

Orthopaedic and Sports Injuries

PRP has an extensive and well-evidenced track record in musculoskeletal medicine. It is used to treat:

Osteoarthritis — PRP injected into arthritic joints reduces inflammation, slows cartilage breakdown, and stimulates the production of new cartilage cells. Multiple clinical studies have demonstrated superior outcomes for PRP versus corticosteroid injections, particularly for knee osteoarthritis.

Tendinopathy — Chronic tendon injuries such as tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis), Achilles tendinopathy, patellar tendinopathy, and rotator cuff injuries respond exceptionally well to PRP. The treatment stimulates the repair of damaged tendon fibres that have lost their ability to self-heal.

Ligament Injuries — PRP accelerates the healing of partial ligament tears and chronic ligament instability.

Muscle Injuries — Grade 1 and 2 muscle tears treated with PRP heal faster and with lower recurrence rates than those managed conservatively.

Aesthetic and Anti-Aging Applications

Skin Rejuvenation (the “Vampire Facial”) — PRP injected or micro-needled into the skin stimulates collagen production, improves skin texture and tone, reduces fine lines, and enhances overall skin luminosity. Results develop gradually over 4–8 weeks and are natural-looking and long-lasting.

Under-Eye Rejuvenation — The delicate under-eye area responds particularly well to PRP, with improvements in hollowness, dark circles, and fine lines.

Hair Restoration — PRP injected into the scalp stimulates dormant hair follicles, increases hair density, and slows the progression of androgenic alopecia (pattern hair loss). Multiple sessions are typically required, and results continue to improve for several months after the final session.

Post-Surgical Healing Support

PRP is used by surgeons and post-surgical care teams to accelerate healing following orthopaedic, dental, and reconstructive procedures.

Is PRP Therapy Safe?

Yes. PRP therapy has an outstanding safety profile, precisely because it uses the patient’s own biological material. The risks associated with conventional treatments — allergic reactions, infection transmission, immune rejection — are essentially absent.

The most common side effects are:

• **Temporary soreness and swelling** at the injection site, lasting 24–72 hours
• **Mild bruising**, particularly with facial injections
• A **temporary increase in pain or discomfort** in the treated joint or tendon before improvement begins — a normal part of the healing response

Serious complications are extremely rare when PRP is administered by a trained medical team.

How Many PRP Sessions Are Needed?

The number of sessions depends on the condition being treated:

• **Orthopaedic conditions** (joints, tendons): typically 2–3 sessions, spaced 4–6 weeks apart
• **Skin rejuvenation**: typically 3 sessions, spaced 4–6 weeks apart, with annual maintenance
• **Hair restoration**: typically 3–4 sessions over 3–4 months, with maintenance sessions every 6–12 months

Results from PRP therapy develop gradually as the healing and regenerative processes unfold — most patients begin to notice meaningful improvements 4–8 weeks after their first session, with continued progress for several months.

When Will I See Results from PRP?

PRP works with your body’s own healing timeline — it is not an instant fix. Initial improvements in pain and function for joint conditions are typically noticeable within 4–8 weeks. For skin and hair applications, the development of results is gradual and continues for 3–6 months following the full course of treatment.

Patience is rewarded with outcomes that are natural, durable, and based on genuine tissue regeneration — not temporary masking of symptoms.

PRP Therapy at Neo Clinics, Girona

At Neo Clinics, PRP therapy is delivered within our broader regenerative medicine framework. We assess each patient thoroughly before recommending a PRP protocol, and we use the most advanced preparation techniques to ensure the highest possible platelet concentration and growth factor activity.

Our team is experienced in PRP for orthopaedic, aesthetic, and hair restoration applications, and we always take the time to set realistic expectations and explain the evidence base for each application.

Located in Castell-Platja d’Aro, Girona. Patients welcome from across Spain and Europe.

📍 Av. de la Platja, 94, Castell-Platja d’Aro, Girona

📞 +34 662 490 672

🌐 neo-clinics.es/en/platelet-rich-plasma-prp/