When I first heard of the vaginal PRP shot, I was intrigued. Many of my women suffer from some form of incontinence. Stress incontinence is leakage with coughing, sneezing, etc. Urge incontinence is when you have the urge to urinate, but don’t quite make it. While Urge incontinence tends to go up with age and parity (how many children you birth), stress incontinence can happen to women who have never had babies. There are numerous studies to suggest that 33-50% of premenopausal women who have never had children experience stress incontinence. Some studies link poor collagen quality and quantity. Other factors can be weight, hormone deprivation, neurological disorders and medication effects.
Treatment options include surgical (urethral sling, for example), bladder retraining, biofeedback and Kegel exercises, electrostimulation, periurethral bulking agents and medications. Aside from the behavioral and pelvic floor muscle retraining, there may be higher risk and complications associated with the other options.
The vaginal PRP shot is a procedure where the patient’s blood is drawn, the platelets with the tissue growth factors are extracted and reinjected into the anterior vaginal wall and near the clitoris. This brings more collagen, blood vessels and nerve regeneration to this area which can improve sexual function (libido, arousal), increase lubrication, reduce painful sex, improvement of lichen sclerosis and urinary incontinence.
The procedure itself takes 10 minutes with a prep time of 30 minutes. There is adequate anesthesia achieved with a topical anaesthetic cream and a lidocaine injection. The effects can be immediate, but may fully manifest around 3-12 weeks. There is no down time. Duration of effects can be over a year. This is a non-insured procedure.
References:
Analysis of collagen status in premenopausal nulliparous women with genuine stress incontinence
Declan P. Keane Tevor J. Sims Paul Abrams Allen J. Bailey, August 19, 2005
Urinary incontinence in nulliparous women before and during pregnancy: prevalence, incidence, and associated risk factors.
Stephanie J Brown 1, Susan Donath, Christine MacArthur, Ellie A McDonald, Ann H KrastevInt Urogynecol J 2010 Feb;21(2):193-202. doi: 10.1007/s00192-009-1011-x. Epub 2009 Oct 16.
https://www.longdom.org/open-access/a-pilot-study-of-the-effect-of-localized-injections-of-autologous-platelet-rich-plasma-prp-for-the-treatment-of-female-sexual-dysfunction-2167-0420.1000169.pdf
Safety and feasibility of platelet rich fibrin matrix injections for treatment of common urologic conditions. Ethan L Matz, Amy M Pearlman, and Ryan P TerleckiInvestig Clin Urol. 2018 Jan; 59(1): 61–65.
Platelets Rich Plasma in Intimate Female Treatment. Neto, J Women’s Health Care 2017, 6: