Platelet Rich Plasma

This is a weird one I know! And the words Platelet Rich Plasma are going to mean very little to a great deal of people. So let me explain them Platelet Rich Plasma or PRP is an orthopedic procedure used to treat chronic tendon problems. It is a relatively new treatment process that not everyone is sold on at the moment, but what ever works hey? What they do is take out venous blood from the patient, and put it though a centrifuge spinner which is used to seperate the components if the blood, pretty much by spinning it super fast. Certain components of the patients on blood are then collected and injected back into the injured site with the aim to bump up healing and tissue remodelling. Crazy stuff! 

It's not the actual process of PRP that I am thankful for today, well I am but it sis more the story behind it. I took over the management of a triathlete a couple of months a go who had been dealing with Achilles tendinopatgy for almost three years and was not getting anywhere. He had pretty much given up of the chance if running again and was stuck to just cycling these days with the occasional swim...I wasn't planning to give up on him. I threw the kitchen sink of conservative treatment at him, was absolutely smashing his calves and was seeing some improvement until he came off his bike and was back to square one. 

So I enlisted the help of the orthopaedic specialist I often refer to. Normally I get letters back from the specialists that I refer to or the patient will call me and tell me what's been happening. Not this guy. He went out of I his way to come into the practice at the time he knew I was working to tell me the plan and thank me for pushing him to keep trying. He now has some hope that he will be back to running again in the not to distant future and is excited to see me running in the upcoming Half Ironman, where he is also riding in a team. 

It's the good patients like this guy that you get emotionally attached to and do whatever you can to get them back to the things they love doing. Some Physio's get these kind if chronic cases and think, oh man, there is nothing else I can do with this guy. There is always something else you can do. I hate giving up on people and think that everyone deserves to be fought for...I'm going to do it!