Sports Medicine

PRP FOR SPORTS INJURIES

You have probably heard about therapies like Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) being used to assist professional athletes like Tiger Woods and Hines Ward to accelerate their healing time. These athletes received PRP therapy after experiencing injuries that should have sidelined them for months. Instead, with the use of PRP as part of their recovery protocol, they saw faster results and were able to get back to the sport they love sooner.

Regenerative medicine takes advantage of our natural ability to heal ourselves by using the healthy regenerative cells derived from our own blood. As clinical research has proven, injecting PRP with adult stem cells leads to healing, tissue regeneration, and in some cases an alternative to surgery and other more invasive therapies.

Laboratory and clinical research has shown that it is possible to use platelets rich plasma to heal and even regenerate lost, damaged or aging tissue, providing some patients with an alternative to surgery.

Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy is used to treat a range of sports and acute injuries resulting in joint, tendon and ligament pain. 

For example, tendonitis, such as Achilles tendonitis or patellar tendonitis in the knee, or tennis elbow, are common overuse conditions plaguing many athletes. Many of these tendons involve microscopic tearing and formation of scar tissue. It is often difficult to heal these tendon injuries due to poor blood supply to these regions. With PRP treatment, this concentrated platelet injection enhances the nutrients and growth factors in the injured area to allow the body to heal it.

Research studies and clinical practice have shown PRP therapy to be very effective at relieving pain and returning patients to their normal lives.

Both ultrasound and MRI images have shown definitive tissue repair after PRP therapy, confirming the healing process. The need for surgery can also be greatly reduced by treating injured tissues before the damage progresses and the condition is irreversible.