So, you finally hit your first tennis ball or took your first golf swing of the warm weather season. But instead of feeling exhilarated, you felt a dull ache or sharp pain in your elbow or forearm. It could be the return of a chronic tennis elbow or golf elbow problem. Or it could be the sign of a new injury. Either way, just because it put a damper on your opening session, this doesn’t necessarily mean that your entire spring and summer will be ruined.
In past blogs I have extolled the benefits of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) – a relatively new treatment that relieves acute or chronic pain by promoting the natural healing potential of the body with platelets from your own blood. Fortunately this includes athletic conditions such as tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow. Both are forms of elbow tendonitis, which can be caused by overuse or stress from repetitive motions of the arm or wrist – including playing sports, carpentry, plumbing, riding a motorcycle, or daily activities, from yard work to lifting weights. The difference is that tennis elbow involves damage to tendons on the outside of the elbow, while golfer’s elbow (less common), is caused by tendons on the inside.
At NJ Pain Care Specialists, we use PRP to treat tendon (and other) injuries that have failed more traditional therapies. Many professional athletes and have turned to PRP for vital pain relief without the risks of surgery and extended recovery, from golf great Tiger Woods to tennis stars Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova.
Non-surgical, simple and safe
The one-hour, non-invasive procedure is performed in our medical office by an experienced pain management physician. Essentially, a sample of your blood is drawn and spun down in a centrifuge machine to separate out and concentrate the platelets and growth factors for tissue healing. The PRP is then injected into the injured area. This is a purely natural process for not only relieving pain, but also for jumpstarting the healing. And because it uses your own blood and nothing else is added, it is safe and avoids the risk of allergy, reaction or rejection.
Following PRP treatment, you will be able to go home the same day and expect full recovery within a week. However, depending on the severity of your injury, it may require three to four treatments before the injured tissues are completely healed.
A personalized exercise program will help your newly developed connective tissue mature into healthy and strong tendons – so you can get back to swinging your racquet or club as quickly and happily as possible.
Find out if this simple and safe procedure is right for you. Please contact us to discuss the possibilities.
At the present time, PRP Treatments are not covered by medical insurance.
