09-10-2010

"I've got four words for you... You're fucked."

-krypt

The NYT has an article on a new form of treatment for sports related injuries called platelet-rich plasma therapy. Basically you take one to two teaspoons of blood from the patient and use a centrifuge to concentrate the platelet and then inject it into the site of the injury. The treatment apparently stimulates tissues in those areas to regenerate and heal. Often times injuries occur in areas that aren’t well supplied with blood so the sudden injection of platelet and plasma could be causing them to regenerate. The best part about the treatment is its relative simplicity and low cost compared to surgery. While surgery can cost $10,000 or more, PRP is about $2,000. Recovery time for a sprained MCL can go from 6 weeks down to 2 weeks. Amazing.

I can’t wait until this reaches a wider audience. Injury is something that constantly haunts me when I’m out running and training.