Treating Equine Soft Tissue Injuries with Platelet Rich Plasma

Treating Equine Soft Tissue Injuries with Platelet Rich Plasma

When a horse is diagnosed with a tendon or ligament injury, riders and veterinarians are faced with a difficult challenge: how to support healing in tissues that are slow to repair and prone to reinjury. Over the last decade, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections have become one of the most trusted and widely used regenerative therapies for equine soft tissue injuries. By concentrating a horse's own natural healing components and delivering them directly to the site of the damage, PRP has helped countless equine athletes return to work stronger than before.

What exactly is PRP?

PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma. To create it, a veterinarian draws a small sample of blood from the horse and processes it in a centrifuge. This separates out the plasma, which contains a high concentration of platelets. These platelets are packed with growth factors, proteins that stimulate cellular repair, reduce inflammation, and promote healthy collagen formation.

Once prepared, the concentrated PRP is injected directly into the injured area, or the area surrounding it, usually under ultrasound guidance to ensure accuracy.

Why PRP is so effective for soft tissue injuries

Soft tissue injuries are notoriously difficult to treat because tendons and ligaments have limited blood supply. Without good circulation, they heal slowly, and often with scar tissue that lacks the elasticity of normal fibers.

PRP addresses this challenge by:

  • Delivering growth factors directly to the injury site where circulation is limited.
  • Stimulating tendon and ligament cells (tenocytes) to produce new, organized collagen.
  • Reducing inflammation that delays healing and creates additional tissue damage.
  • Improving tendon fiber alignment, which reduces scar tissue formation and lowers reinjury risk

This targeted, biologic boost is why PRP has become a gold standard: it directly supports the body's natural repair process in tissues that need it most.

How nutrition complements PRP

While PRP provides the growth factors to stimulate healing, tendons and ligaments also need the raw materials to rebuild strong, elastic fibers. That's where nutrition plays a critical role.

Tendonall is designed to complement therapies like PRP by:

  • Supporting collagen synthesis through Vitamin A (Retinyl Palmitate)
  • Protecting tendon cells from oxidative stress with Vitamin E
  • Providing energy for tissue metabolism via medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) from coconut oil

By creating an optimal environment for healing, Tendonall helps ensure that the benefits of PRP are reinforced with steady nutritional support.

PRP injections have transformed the way veterinarians treat tendon and ligament injuries, making them one of the most effective regenerative therapies available today. By directly stimulating repair in tissues with poor circulation, PRP gives horses a stronger chance of returning to full athletic function.

Paired with smart rehabilitation and consistent support, PRP can turn a once career-limiting injury into a successful recovery story. 

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