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Is shock therapy recommended for Jumper's Knee?

Q: I've been told that I might get some benefit from "shock therapy" to my knee for a bad case of "Jumper's Knee." Is this really a safe method of treatment? Sounds gruesome but I'm desperate and willing to try just about anything. Running and jumping over and over often leads to a condition in athletes known as or jumper's knee (also known as patellar tendinosis. Pain along the front of the knee during the activity that goes away with rest is a cardinal symptom of this condition. Dancers, gymn...

I'm investigating the use of platelet-rich plasma to treat a chronic tendon problem I have

Maybe I'm being a bit obsessive compulsive but that is my nature. I'm investigating the use of platelet-rich plasma to treat a chronic tendon problem I have. So far, I understand the concept and the procedure. But now I find there are dozens of "kits" the surgeon can choose from to actually do the blood draw and make the injection. How do they know which one to choose? Should I investigate further? From your personal research, you have probably discovered that Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) (also kn...

Are there any safety issues with blood injection plasma for tendon tears?

Are there any safety issues with blood injection plasma for tendon tears? I'm planning to have this treatment but thought I'd do a little checking on the Internet before actually going through with it. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) (also known as blood injection therapy) is a medical treatment being used for a wide range of musculoskeletal problems. Platelet-rich plasma refers to a sample of serum (blood) plasma that has as much as nine times more than the normal amount of platelets. This treatment...

Exercise Should Be the First Treatment for Tendinopathy

Tendon repair can be tricky business. When the process gets interrupted for any reason, the tendon may get stuck in a lose-lose situation. Too much inflammation (and even sometimes not enough inflammation) can result in a process that produces a problem we call tendinosis or tendinopathy.Tendinopathy refers to any tendon that has been damaged in some way but is no longer in the acute inflammatory phase, which would be called a tendinitis. Examination of tendon tissue in patients who have had chr...

Not All Platelet-Rich Plasma Treatments Are the Same

There are at least 16 different collection kits available on the market for platelet-rich plasma. They are not all the same and the differences may make affect results of studies trying to determine the effectiveness and long-lasting benefit of this treatment. In this article, orthopedic surgeons from Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago discuss the contents and preparation of these platelet-rich plasma kits.Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) (also known as blood injection therapy) is a...

What's the Latest on Platelet-Rich Plasma

According to the authors of this review and update on platelet-rich plasma (PRP), there are now 1000s of articles published on the topic. Yet for all that research, we still don't know if platelet-rich plasma treatment is really the way to go for tendon (or other soft tissue and bone) healing.Let's take a look at what this review was able to uncover about platelet-rich plasma. Here's a quick review for those who don't know what it is. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) refers to a sample of serum (blood...

How is it possible to have a wrist fracture and not know it

About a month ago, my left wrist started aching for no known reason. I finally had it X-rayed and sure enough, there was a fracture in the scaphoid bone. How is it possible to have a wrist fracture and not know it? The scaphoid is the most common carpal bone to break. It is located on the thumbside of the wrist next to the radius (larger of the two forearm bones). And according to results of studies published in orthopedic journals, it's also not uncommon for patients to be unaware of a fracture...

Theories about tendon disorders in athletes

Sports injuries command a lot of attention in the orthopedic world. Keeping athletes in tip top shape and in playing or competitive mode is a top priority for sports medicine specialists. Toward that end, researchers are trying to understand what causes tendon problems (called tendinopathies) in this group of individuals. If we can understand how and why tendon disorders develop, then maybe we can prevent them from occurring in the first place. The authors of this review article on tendinopathie...