Blood is composed of three main parts: blood cells (red and white), plasma, and platelets. After centrifuging blood, the heavier blood cells sink to the bottom and the liquid plasma remains on top. The platelets are not as heavy as the blood cells and wind up in between. Specialized equipment was invented in the 1950's to remove the plasma closest to the red blood cell layer that contained the platelets. The fluid was termed platelet-rich plasma (PRP).
Extensive research discovered PRP to have important healing capabilities and has been used to help with open heart surgeries since the 1970's. Over the past few years, technological advances have helped lower the cost of extracting PRP and have made its use more widely available. With today's equipment, approximately 3cc of PRP can be extracted out of 30cc of blood.
To get maximum benefit from the PRP, it must be properly handled and injected in a precise fashion. Dr. Tallman utilizes all of the manual skills learned throughout chiropractic training while carefully administering PRP.
