We all clearly understand that Motocross and other action sports can be hard on our joints. I myself had had the pleasure of completely rupturing my left rotator cuff to the point where I needed a latissimus dorsi transfer. This is where they detached my back muscle and reattached it on my shoulder so I could at least have a decent amount of function again.
Other athletes simply wear out their joints over time, from the constant pounding of our sport(s). One of my clients – Ric Wilson has been at the top of the Snocross game for years and his knees have simply worn out from repetitive trauma, surgeries and what many would call good old fashioned abuse.
We’ve been getting Ric and his son Devin ready for the 2014 season that is shortly upon us. Before we started our 8-week training camp, Ric had a procedure done on his knees called Platelet Rich Plasma Injection Therapy (PRP). To be honest I didn’t know a lot about it, but any information that can help all of our athletes is good information to have. So over the past couple of weeks, I have done a top line scan to understand just what is involved with this procedure. Although, I’m not going to go into detail in this blog (I hope to do an article on it in the near future) I wanted to note the principal behind Platelet Rich Plasma Injection Therapy.
Platelet Rich Plasma Injection Therapy involves drawing a certain amount of your own blood from your body. This blood is then put in a centrifuge (a machine that spins at a high rate of speed and allows separation of the blood) to isolate the platelet aspect of the blood. These platelets are then injected into the joint at the specific area of concern. This first treatment is usually followed up with a second treatment 4-6 weeks later.
Although this procedure is still classified as “experimental”, it seems that it is becoming more and more popular. And from what I can see with Ric, his knees are doing really well. He’s gone from having legitimate trouble getting into his truck to performing wind sprints up hills – this is a huge difference. We’re starting to test him on squats next week in the gym, so we’re hoping that we can ease him in and build that ever important leg strength back up in time.
Until next time, Train Hard, Ride Easy!
Craig