PRP Sexy
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 11:09PMWho needs surgery when a needle holds such hope?
In the sports pages of newspapers around the country readers are finding more and more stories of professional athletes that have used platelet-rich plasma to treat injuries.
Before the Super Bowl two years ago Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward was injected with PRP to facilitate the healing process on his knee injury heading into the big game. He recovered quickly enough to play in two weeks.
Tiger Woods had a PRP injection after his 2008 knee surgery. Baseball players Carlos Beltran, Cliff Lee and other professional athletes also reportedly have had PRP therapy.
So what is a PRP injection? It is a procedure that is simple at its core, using a person’s own blood with strong growth and healing components to encourage healing. To have the procedure done you just have a small amount of your blood drawn. The blood is centrifuged to separate out the platelet-rich plasma components (PRP). The PRP solution is then injected around the area of injury (usually a tendon or joint issue). PRP is rich in growth factors and in theory fans the fire of the healing process.
PRP has been used in many fields of medicine, including Wound Care, Orthopedic, Oral, Maxillofacial and Plastic Surgery. The use of PRP in sports medicine has increased dramatically during recent years. Emerging evidence and media publicity point towards PRP’s potential for the treatment of muscle strains, as well as tendon and ligament healing. Larger high level studies still need to be done to clarify the role and efficacy of this treatment. That being said, it is exciting to have the promise of a powerful nonsurgical treatment option.
Reader Comments