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Healing Ski Injuries: Stem Cell Therapy & Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)

As winter arrives and much of the country hits the slopes, a number of skiers and snowboarders will, unfortunately, sustain new knee injuries, and others will aggravate older ones and experience debilitating pain.

Fortunately, Regenerative Medicine has evolved into a rapidly expanding field that has been applied to musculo-skeletal and sports injuries – with Stem Cell Therapy and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) incorporated into the treatment of skiing injuries, rather than jumping into knee meniscus surgery.

Regenerative procedures like Stem Cell Therapy and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) leave you with a normal knee surface rather than an altered one, which occurs often with surgical resection. Surgery to the knee meniscus often leads to further knee joint instability and even a high repeat surgery rate. If the injured meniscus is resected or cut out, there is no ability for the body to heal the area afterwards because the region is receiving an inadequate blood supply. This roller coaster of trauma and repeat knee meniscus surgery is a recipe for early arthritis – making Regenerative Therapy with PRP and Stem Cell Therapy an attractive alternative to knee meniscus surgery.

How Stem Cell Therapy Helps

Our adult bodies contain millions of stem cells that can be extracted from our own Adipose fat tissue through a quick and relatively painless procedure. The procedures performed at New Jersey Pain Care Specialists involve only adult stem cells – not controversial embryonic stem cells. We use an FDA-approved procedure in which the stem cells are harvested from your Adipose tissue – fat in your “love handles” or abdomen area – and injected within 30-60 minutes of collection into the site of the injury.

Stem cells and other cells multiply, repair and rebuild the damaged tissue – an accelerated healing response that reduces pain, promotes increased strength and improves knee joint function. It is a promising new and natural way to treat a range of skiing injuries without undergoing invasive
meniscus surgery and without depending on long-term pain medications and non-steroidal medications.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is 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. PRP is used to treat ligament and tendon injuries that have failed more traditional therapies, including common skiing injuries, like meniscus tears, and knee and ligament sprains.

Many professional athletes and have turned to PRP for vital pain relief without the risks of menicus surgery and extended recovery. One of the most renowned PRP advocates is NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who suffers from degeneration inside the knee. Bryant has had several PRP treatments and talked about his personal experience with PRP therapy and how it helped contribute to his ability to play at a high level into his mid-late thirties.

Both procedures are non-invasive, natural and safe. You’ll go home the same day with hopes of being back on the slopes the soonest way possible.

At the present time, Stem Cell Therapy and PRP Treatments are not covered by medical insurance.

 

 

 

 

About The Author

Dr. Harris Bram, MD, DABPM

Dr. Harris Bram, MD, DABPM

Dr. Harris Bram is an Interventional Pain Management Specialist in New Jersey. He is a graduate of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. His postgraduate training in anesthesia was performed at Hahnemann University Hospital, where he sub-specialized in cardiac anesthesia. He completed his pain management fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA.

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