Sprains and strains of the muscles and tendons are among the most common sports injuries. Each year, 3.5 million children and teens alone deal with injuries from sports, including tendonitis. However, tendonitis can affect anyone. Even without sports injuries, routine stress on the body can lead to chronic tendonitis. To get relief, regenerative medicine may be able to help.
Stuart A. Kauffman, DO, at PRP in Philadelphia has years of experience dealing with chronic tendonitis. If you’re dealing with the aches and pains of this condition, Dr. Kauffman can help.
Tendons are thick cords of tissue that attach your muscles to your bones. Tendonitis happens when a tendon becomes inflamed, either through repetitive motions or through injury. Tendonitis can strike any of your tendons, but the condition most commonly occurs around the shoulders, elbows, knees, wrists, and heels. If the inflammation doesn't go away, the condition is considered chronic.
With regenerative medicine, certain substances in your body that help speed healing and regeneration are extracted and then injected into areas of your body that need healing. Regenerative medicine is nonsurgical, and it can help treat a number of conditions, including chronic tendonitis.
There are two main types of regenerative medicine: platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy and stem cell therapy.
Platelet rich plasma therapy uses the platelets in your blood to promote healing. Platelets are cells that contain proteins that stimulate clotting and tissue regeneration. With PRP treatments, your provider draws a sample of your blood. Then your blood is placed in a centrifuge to separate the platelets from the rest of your blood’s components. The platelet serum is then injected into the area that needs healing. It can be used to treat injuries, osteoarthritis, hair loss, and even speed up healing after surgeries.
Stem cells are unique in that they can turn into any cell your body needs. By extracting some of them and injecting them into an injured area, they can turn into the cells needed in that area and speed healing and regeneration. Stem cells are normally extracted from bone marrow and then injected into the place that needs treatment.
The purpose of regenerative medicine is to alleviate pain by treating the cause. By giving injured or compromised areas of the tendon a fresh supply of healing factors, your tendon will have a better chance of healing quicker and more completely.
And by using healing factors from your own body, your immune system will incorporate them and not reject them. By harnessing the power of platelet-rich plasma therapy or stem cell therapy, you can look forward to a life of less pain.
If you have chronic tendonitis and want to see if regenerative medicine can help you, book an appointment online or over the phone with PRP in Philadelphia today.
