Regenerative Biologics

Tendon and muscle injuries are common in elite and weekend athletes. Treatment of these injuries in both groups is rapidly evolving. Sports medicine patients are demanding better and less invasive solutions for reservedall types of musculoskeletal disorders. Recently, two of the Pittsburgh Steeler’s biggest stars, Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu, used their own blood in an innovative treatment option for their injury prior to winning the Super Bowl; beating our home team Arizona Cardinals.

The body has an amazing capacity to heal itself. When the body becomes injured, a natural healing process occurs to repair the damaged tissue. The body signals platelets and other components in our blood supply to migrate to the site of injury. Under normal conditions, these platelets release a variety of growth factors that initiate and subsequently promote healing. New advances in medicine have been developed to harness and concentrate these platelets and growth factors to be precisely introduced to the injury site in an injectable form. With Platelet-rich Plasma (PRP) therapy, the patient’s own blood is used to accelerate recovery and channel the body’s natural power of healing and tissue repair. Healing in many instances may be associated with reduced pain and a quicker return to activity.
Many active patients are familiar with repetitive or overuse injuries that can cause micro tears of the muscle and/or tendon fibers resulting in weakness and pain at the injury site. These conditions affect the normal healing process of the damaged tissue and can lead to pain and dysfunction. A study looking at the treatment of chronic Plantar Fasciitis pain with platelet therapy showed 77.9% of patients demonstrated a favorable result after one year. Barrett S, Erredge S, Podiatry Today. 2004; 17:36-42.

It should be noted that PRP is a medical treatment, not a performance enhancing agent. Unlike blood doping, which increases the number of red blood cells in an athlete’s body to enhance endurance and performance, PRP is prescribed for injuries to encourage healing. This therapy may be a solution to chronic ailments, at a fraction of the cost of surgery. Therefore, it is possible that insurance companies authorize this treatment in the future. Outside of sports medicine, this treatment is being used in other fields such as heart surgery and wound healing.’