Platelet Rich Plasma Gaining Popularity as Effective Non-Surgical Treatment for Sports Injuries

Last updated 2 years ago

Last March, the Wall Street Journal posted an article about the increasing popularity of platelet rich plasma therapy for athletes to heal sports injuries. Major athletes like Tiger Woods, Cliff Lee and Kenyon Martin have all successfully used Platelet Rich Plasma Injections to treat their injuries. Over the last year, this type of therapy has begun to be regularly prescribed by orthopedic surgeons and sports medicine doctors across the country. Here are some details about platelet rich plasma from the article:

“The treatment, known as platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, is one of a growing number of therapies that enhance the body's ability to heal itself. A physician extracts about one to two ounces of blood from the patient's vein and spins it in a centrifuge to separate out the platelets, the part of the blood that secretes growth factors to promote clotting and healing. The doctor injects that platelet-rich plasma back into the patient at the site of injury, where it spurs the repair of injured tissue. Most patients experience relief within several weeks.”

Here’s how it impacted one woman who struggled sleeping from her injury.

"I was in so much pain that I hadn't slept for more than 45 minutes at a time for nearly a year," says Ms. Hathaway. "It's remarkable how much better I feel."

"Where it's been kind of a godsend is in tissues that traditionally don't do a good job of healing by themselves—like tendons, ligaments and cartilage," says David Karli, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist at Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo., who has treated more than 1,500 patients, including Ms. Hathaway, with PRP.

If you are looking for an orthopedic surgeon in New York with vast experience using Platelet Rich Plasma Injections to treat sports injuries, call Dr. Stein. Dr. Stein believes in aggressive, non-operative treatment plans personally designed for each patient to try and avoid or postpone surgical treatment.