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how many platelets do i give?
The typical platelets-only donation — called apheresis or single-

donor platelets — collects between 300 billion and 600 billion
platelets, less than a quarter of all the platelets in your bloodstream.

But don’t worry. Your bone marrow makes about 100 billion
platelets a day, and in the typical 10-day period, all the platelets in
your body are replaced anyway.

how many platelets are collected in a year?
There were 2.2 million units of platelets collected in the United

States in 2013, according to the American Association of Blood
Banks.

So how does my body make platelets?
Platelets actually are fragments of bone marrow cells called

megakaryocytes. The megakaryocytes are too big to get into the
bloodstream, but portions of them break off and are small enough
to enter the bloodstream. Those broken-off pieces are platelets. A
typical megakaryocyte produces about 1,000 platelets.

how big are platelets?
An unactivated platelet is between 2 and 4 micrometers (a mi-

crometer is a millionth of a meter) in diameter.
If you have a difficult time thinking in terms either that small

or that metric, here’s a different perspective: If you lined up 6,500
platelets, they would stretch from the knuckle of your thumb to
the tip.

On the other hand, if you lined up all the platelets your body made
in a day, it would be a very odd-looking line – and would stretch
from San Antonio to the southern suburbs of Dallas. Yes, 400 billion
micrometers is just about 250 miles. Ain’t math grand?

And even though there are lots of them, platelets make up less than
1 percent of the total volume of your bloodstream.

What do i need to do to get ready to donate?
Don’t take any aspirin or ibuprofen for at least 48 hours before

your appointment, since they alter the way platelets work and make
them pretty much ineffective. If you need something for aches and
pains, use acetaminophen. If figuring out what acetaminophen is
makes your head hurt, take two. (It’s the active ingredient in Tylenol.)

is it going to hurt?
The process is very similar to giving blood, with just the slight

pinch of a needle and passing soreness in your arm. Side effects are
pretty much the same as well, including minor tingling of the hands
or mouth or a slight chill.

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