There is a promising new kind of therapy for treating pain from soft tissue (muscles, ligaments, tendons) injuries. It is called Platelet Rich Plasma therapy (PRP), and involves a non-surgical approach. Sounds great to me.
PRP works like this. A small sample of your blood is taken, spun in a centrifuge to separate the plasma portion (the plasma portion contains platelets, which contain protein growth factors responsible or the body’s healing process). This resulting plasma has a concentration of platelets up to 8 times the that of normal blood concentrations. They are then injected into the injured tissue PRP delivers this concentrated amount of growth factors directly into the injured tissue. The hope is that this will stimulate the body’s natural healing process, and result in a faster, more efficient, and complete restoration of the tissue to a healthy state.
Traditional non-surgical treatment: rest, ice, elevation, compression; NSAIDS; and steroid injections, seeks to decrease pain by reducing inflammation. PRP therapy seeks to decrease painful symptoms by actually assisting the body to regenerate the injured tissue, thereby actually correcting the injury versus reducing the symptoms.
PRP has been used for more than 20 years to enhance bone grafting, accelerate wound healing, and reduce the risk of infection after surgery. It has only recently been introduced into physicians offices to treat rotator cuff, tennis elbow, plantar fascitis, meniscal tears, osteoarthritis, and bursitis, with a great deal of success. Current studies are focusing on treatment for low back pain. Check with your physician if you’re interested.
Do you complain of low energy, night sweats, or have difficulty losing weight? These are but some of the symptoms of thyroid disorder. 30 million Americans are affected by this disorder, and it is estimated another 27 million are affected by thyroid disorders but have not yet been diagnosed.
Today is the first day back to my workout schedule in a week. I threw my back out (after a great workout) by putting on a sock. Although I’ve been ‘itching’ to get back at it, and probably could have done it yesterday, I’m erring on the side of being a little more conservative-must be I’m getting smarter.
Our family got a new 8-week old puppy last Friday. ‘Jake’ is a GoldenDoodle Doodle- his father was a 100 pound GoldenDoodle (a cross between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle) and his mother a standard Poodle. His energy is boundless, and he’s a lot of fun (and work).
Stay well, John R Blilie, M.S.