U.S. Professional Soccer Athlete Injected with Platelet Rich Plasma

In addition to chronic (long term) injuries, Platelet Rich Plasma is being applied to the high level athlete to accelerate recovery. Numerous professional athletes have received PRP for a common knee injury, an MCL (medial Collateral Ligament) sprain. While I'm not an elite athlete by any means, I received a similar injection following a surfing accident. I just ran full speed tonight without any limitations, now appx 9 wks post injection. http://prpinjection.blogspot.com/2007/10/prp-knee-injection-8-wks-post-injection.html

http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/chivas/la-sp-chivas15oct15,1,3735874.story?coll=la-sports-chivas
Another athlete was injected by myself & my colleague Mike Gerhadt MD. This positive outcome was reported on CBS Evening news with Katie Kouric.

http://prpinjection.blogspot.com/2007/10/cbs-news-with-katie-kouric-prp-feature.html

PRP knee injection 8 wks post injection update

Well it's been 8 wks now since my infamous surfing experience & subsaquent injection. I have been doing terrific. By now, I have received a series of MRI's and an ultrasound that document decreased edema & show tendon thickening (indicating healing of my MCL ligament. Initially I had a grade II MCL sprain. Because I have my own MRI machine, I have the luxury of performing seriel studies.

Anyways, I have been attending PT weekly with Cheyanne Kane PT in West LA (good therapist). She has been using modalities including Laser which have been helpful. Also, I have Cheyanne place the laser on acupuncture points for healing and relaxation.

By now, I have been swimming, biking, & running pain free. Occasionally my knee feels a little stiff after standing or sitting for prolonged periods, but maybe a 1/10 on the pain scale. I have not taken any medications other than tylenol for a few days after the initial injection.

I will soon publish a case report on my MCL injury with PRP injection. Hopefully this will inspire other professional & recreational athletes to consider this treatment to accelerate recovery with limited negative consequences. All of our professional soccer players with MCL sprains and PRP injections are doing great.

Doctor Heal Thyself or How I Treated My Own Tendon Injury

After moving to California recently, I decided to take surfing lessons. However, I wasn't aware that I was about to receive a PRP injection myself after spraining my MCL on the first day! I felt a pop in my knee and subsequently had an MRI that showed bruising of my tibia & swelling/fluid at my MCL. Shortly afterwards, I received a PRP injection to my knee.

This experience let me understand the healing process & better communicate the recovery process with patients. Most importantly I have appreciated the necessary role of Physical therapy post injection. We are in the process of developing Physical therapy protcols to maximize positive outcomes & improve pain tolerance. Being a typical doctor, and not properly taking care of myself, I worked the day after my injection rather than resting as I recommend to others. This resulted in increased pain which was later relieved with a device I received called "game Ready" which provides cooling & compression with ice. Now, I describe the process as similar to experiencing a new injury. Although there isn't a second injury, we are releasing potent proteins/growth factors that normally accumulate when there is an acute injury.

I tell patients that they may feel a different pain which gradually subsides in 2-7 days. For some reason patient tolerance of the injection varies. Some describe significant brief discomfort, while others are completely fine.