Best Questions to Ask Before PRP Therapy
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is offered by many kinds of clinics, and they do not all do it the same way. These are the questions worth asking before you agree to anything, wherever you go.
Published by Innovare Tx · Facts last checked September 23, 2026 · Educational information, not medical advice.
How we chose this list
- Each question is one a patient can ask any clinic, including Innovare Tx.
- Where Innovare Tx has published its own answer on this website, we show it; where it has not, we leave it out.
- Background facts come from the FDA, the American College of Rheumatology and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).
- Nothing here is a claim about what PRP does. It is a checklist for the conversation.
1. Is the material from my own body, or from a donor or a product?
PRP is prepared from your own blood. Some clinics also sell donor, amniotic, umbilical cord or exosome products and call them "stem cell" or "regenerative" injections. The FDA warns consumers that, apart from cord blood stem cells used for certain blood disorders, it has not approved these kinds of products, including for orthopedic conditions, and that people have been harmed by unapproved products.
How Innovare Tx answers: every orthobiologic procedure it offers is autologous, meaning the material comes from you and goes back to you. It does not use donor, amniotic, umbilical, cultured or expanded cells, does not offer adipose stromal vascular fraction (SVF), and does not market stem cell products.
- Ask: "Is anything in this injection from someone else, or bought as a product?"
- Innovare Tx: autologous only (own blood or bone marrow)
Checked on: FDA: Important patient and consumer information about regenerative medicine therapies
2. What is the FDA status of what you are offering me?
A straight answer includes the word "investigational." PRP is not FDA-approved for the treatment of any specific orthopedic condition. If a clinic describes it as approved, standard, or certain to work, that tells you something about how the rest of the conversation will go.
How Innovare Tx answers: PRP, PPP, BMAC and A2M are considered investigational and are not FDA-approved for the treatment of any specific orthopedic condition, including osteoarthritis. Individual results are not guaranteed.
3. What exactly is in the preparation, and how is it made?
PRP is not one standardized product. The 2019 American College of Rheumatology and Arthritis Foundation osteoarthritis guideline recommends against PRP for knee and hip osteoarthritis, citing concern about the heterogeneity and lack of standardization of preparations and techniques, which makes it hard to know exactly what is being injected. That is a good reason to ask how a clinic prepares its sample.
How Innovare Tx answers: a small blood sample is drawn in the clinic, spun in a centrifuge to separate and concentrate the platelet fraction, and delivered in the same visit. The sample is minimally manipulated, made in the room from your own blood, and never stored, shipped or pooled with anyone else's.
- Ask: "How is the sample prepared, and is it done here, today?"
- Innovare Tx: centrifuged in the clinic, same visit
Checked on: 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip, and Knee
4. Will the injection be placed with ultrasound or fluoroscopy?
Image guidance lets the clinician see the target and the needle in real time, so the injection goes where it was meant to go. It is about accuracy of delivery, not a claim about what the material does.
How Innovare Tx answers: injections are delivered under ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance.
5. Who evaluates me, and who performs the procedure?
Ask who examines you, who reviews your imaging, who prepares the sample and who does the injection. These can be different people in some clinics, and you are entitled to know.
How Innovare Tx answers: Charles Ortega, PA-C, MPAS reviews your history, imaging and goals to decide whether a procedure is an appropriate option, and supervises every step from the evaluation through preparation and image-guided delivery. Dr. Nathan V. Nguyen is the supervising physician.
6. Do I get a full evaluation before anything is scheduled?
The evaluation should come first: an exam, a look at your imaging, and a view about what is driving the pain. If a clinic will book you for an injection from a phone call, that is worth noticing.
How Innovare Tx answers: nothing procedural is scheduled from a phone call. Candidacy is decided at an evaluation, and some findings, such as a complete ligament rupture, a locked knee, significant deformity or advanced bone-on-bone change, may be better served by an orthopedic opinion, which Innovare Tx says it will tell you.
7. What is the total cost, in writing, and will insurance pay?
AAOS OrthoInfo notes that few insurance plans, including workers' compensation plans, reimburse PRP even partly. Ask for the full price in writing, what it includes, whether more than one injection is being proposed, and whether you can take time to decide.
How Innovare Tx answers: orthobiologic procedures are cash-pay because insurers do not cover them, and the price is quoted in writing after your evaluation, never over the phone. You are not asked to decide on the day you first hear the number. The consultation, evaluation and imaging may be covered by insurance, Affirm and CareCredit financing are available, and military, veteran and first-responder discounts are offered.
Checked on: AAOS OrthoInfo: Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)
8. What standard care should come first, and what are my other options?
For knee osteoarthritis, the ACR/Arthritis Foundation guideline strongly recommends exercise, weight loss for people who are overweight, self-management programs and, for some people, a brace or cane. Ask what you have already tried, whether it was done properly, and what the full list of options looks like, including options the clinic does not offer.
How Innovare Tx answers: for knees, its orthobiologic procedures sit at step four of a pathway that starts with an evaluation and a conservative plan. Physical therapy is available in the same building with Rowena Calleja, PT.
Checked on: 2019 ACR/Arthritis Foundation Guideline for the Management of Osteoarthritis of the Hand, Hip, and Knee
9. What are the risks, and what do you need to know about me beforehand?
AAOS OrthoInfo describes the risks of PRP as minimal, with increased pain at the injection site possible, and rates of infection, tissue damage and nerve injury comparable to cortisone injections. Tell the clinic about blood thinners, anti-inflammatory medicines and any bleeding disorder before the day, not at the door.
How Innovare Tx answers: soreness around the injection site for a few days is usual. Spreading redness, fever, or pain that is increasing rather than settling is a reason to call rather than wait.
Checked on: AAOS OrthoInfo: Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)
10. What is the plan if this changes nothing?
Ask how the result will be judged, when, and what happens next on each branch. A clear answer uses measurements taken at the start and a follow-up date, not memory.
How Innovare Tx answers: your provider sets the follow-up interval and compares against measurements taken at the start. The rest of the plan, such as strength work and load management, continues either way, and Innovare Tx refers to orthopedics, rheumatology or interventional radiology when that is the right next step.
PRP, PPP, BMAC, and A2M are autologous procedures prepared from your own blood or bone marrow. They are considered investigational and are not FDA-approved for the treatment of any specific orthopedic condition, including osteoarthritis. Individual results are not guaranteed. Any decision to pursue an orthobiologic procedure should be made with your provider after a clinical evaluation.
How to use this list
Print it or keep it on your phone and ask every question, at every clinic, including ours. Write the answers down. A clinic that is comfortable with all of them, and puts the cost in writing, is giving you what you need to decide calmly.
Be cautious of any clinic that says an injection treats, heals, repairs or regrows cartilage or tendons, promises you will avoid surgery, quotes a success rate, or pressures you to pay on the first visit.
- Autologous or donor product?
- FDA status (the honest answer includes "investigational")
- How the sample is prepared
- Ultrasound or fluoroscopy guidance
- Who evaluates, who injects
- Evaluation before scheduling
- Total cost in writing, and time to decide
- Standard care and other options
- Risks and what to disclose
- The plan if nothing changes
Frequently asked questions
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ReadTalk it through with a clinician
A list is a starting point. Book an evaluation at our Addison clinic, or call and we will verify your insurance before you come in.