Platelet-Rich Plasma: Sports Medicine Game Changer?
If you, and your Platelet-Rich Plasma were to listen to the sounds your body’s inner workings and infrastructure make on a daily basis while active, you might start to wonder if everything is ok inside. It likely is. Those creaks, cracks, pops, and snaps are normal. A “pop” for example is the sound a tendon can make when moving quickly across a joint. But when those sounds are accompanied by pain — get checked out. It could be an injury. But as we celebrate National Sports Day on October 16th, for a professional athlete to hear any sound, could be a little worrisome. And if pain follows, even mild, that could be utterly terrifying. Those creaks, cracks, pops, and snaps have a significant cost both in the ability to play and in dollars and cents.
According to Forbes, in 2015, the average cost of player injuries in the top professional soccer leagues was estimated at $12.5 million per team. And each year, soccer teams lose the equivalent of 10 to 30% of player payroll because of injuries suffered on the field. If an injury is costly, it would stand to reason that healing is priceless.
Platelet-Rich Plasma and Sports Medicine
There’s a reason why the number of injured athletes leaning into the Platelet-Rich Plasma treatment is growing. It’s a mix of natural components of a person’s whole blood. Extracting and separating the platelet rich plasma from a person’s own blood is done through a centrifugation process. The PRP is then injected into the tissue of the damaged, injured area to help repair or speed up the natural healing process. PRP boasts a decent batting average too — with a 70 to 80% success rate in treating ligaments, tendon, and joint injuries. The average recovery time is four to eight weeks. Surgical procedures to treat these same problems are often invasive and require months of recovery, at times. For an athlete, the goal is an earlier return to play.
PRP’s ability to work quickly is dependent upon its platelet concentration level. The higher it is, the better stimulation of growth factors and other proteins in the musculoskeletal system. That concentration level is solely determined by an individual’s internal chemistry. Just because it is harvested from an injured athlete, it doesn’t always prove to be 100% effective. The body is a tricky beast. But the benefits and generally favorable odds of working are enough stats for athletes to opt for the injection. Based on data for the platelet-rich plasma injection in regenerative medicine, it shows benefits in treating:
- Tendon & Ligament Tears
- Achille’s Tendonitis
- Damaged Hamstring
- Meniscus Pathologies
- Tennis Elbow
- SI & Facet joints
- Neck and Shoulder Pain
- Plantar Fasciitis
- Rotator Cuff Tears
- Labral Tears
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Conclusive Evidence: Enough isn’t Enough
Despite the discovery of Platelet-Rich Plasma’s miracle-working-like qualities back in the early 2000s, the field of regenerative medicine is still considered “emerging.” In part, that’s due to PRP’s explosive use in other areas, including hair loss treatment, sexual wellness, and podiatry. The focus became scattered. And in the field of medicine, data and schools of thought can and do change. Conclusiveness isn’t guaranteed equally. PRP continues to make strides and turn heads. Athletes are thankful, it’s allowing them to do the same. Without it, retirement would’ve been the next step for some.
PRP’s “Endorsements” and Bragging Rights
From leading racecar drivers to golf’s greatest, the list of athletes seeking platelet-rich plasma therapy is growing. Full list
Football
- Joseph Adai
- Matt Forte
- Ray Lewis
- Troy Polamalu
- Brian Urlacher
Golf
- Tiger Woods
Baseball
- Alex Rodriguez
- Bartolo Colon
- Pedro Feliciano
- Brett Anderson
- Nelson Cruz
- Michael Young
- George Sherrill
- Mark Lowe
Basketball
- Kobe Bryant
- Greg Oden
- Trevor Booker
- Steve Blake
- Deron Williams
- Enes Kanter
- Reggie Bullock
Athletics
- Donovan Bailey
- Usain Bolt
Tennis
- Raphael Nadal
Even Deeper Diving
Want to learn even more about those creaking and cracking sounds the body makes? The Optimal Body Podcast spent an entire episode talking about “crunchy knees.”
PRP & Sports Medicine Citation
Popescu, M. B., Carp, M., Tevanov, I., Nahoi, C. A., Stratila, M. A., Haram, O. M., & Ulici, A. (2020). Isolated Meniscus Tears in Adolescent Patients Treated with Platelet-Rich Plasma Intra-articular Injections: 3-Month Clinical Outcome. BioMed research international, 2020, 8282460. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8282460
Fei, X., Lang, L., Lingjiao, H., Wei, C., & Zhou, X. (2021). Platelet-rich plasma has better mid-term clinical results than traditional steroid injection for plantar fasciitis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Orthopaedics & traumatology, surgery & research : OTSR, 107(6), 103007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.otsr.2021.103007
Mihai Bogdan Popescu, Madalina Carp, Iulia Tevanov, Catalin Alexandru Nahoi, Madalina Andreea Stratila, Oana Mihaela Haram, Alexandru Ulici, “Isolated Meniscus Tears in Adolescent Patients Treated with Platelet-Rich Plasma Intra-articular Injections: 3-Month Clinical Outcome”, BioMed Research International, vol. 2020, Article ID 8282460, 5 pages, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8282460