Tennis news: PRP therapy; reason behind Rafael Nadal’s comeback
Rafael Nadal, the world No. 1 faced many knee problems in different tournaments. There is always a connection seen between both of them. But now regardless to knee tendinitis, people are more concerned about three major Grand Slams he won this year, which is a huge achievement.
Other than that his tennis fans also can’t forget the problems he faced during the start of this year and couldn’t perform in the quarters of Australian Open. The Spanish star was really distressed during the whole match, six months ago.
But what an outstanding comeback it was. The reason of his comeback was PRP therapy, which his personal doctor experimented on his left knee six months back. That was a totally new treatment for Rafael Nadal. Spanish sports doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro explained that after he faced some issues with his right knee, he experimented the PRP therapy on the injured knee in the same manner, so that the tendons could grow faster.
Nadal told the reporter that he could not explain the treatment in English because it was very complicated and tough.
In an interview, the famous Dr. Sanchez describes the miraculous regeneration treatment which known as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy. He told the media that the treatment is very simple to understand, we have platelets in our body which help the body to heal the injuries. If a bone is broken, it is the duty of the bone cells to build the bone and stop when it is cured. In this treatment doctors concentrated many of these signs on a particular site, because of this the speed of healing is much higher and the quality of scar is better.
More tellingly, there is nothing new in the treatment. What is needed in the treatment is a little blood from the patient and treat it, focusing on growth factors and then put in the right place.
Many professionals have tried PRP injections, according to the SA article, the world No. 1 golf player Tiger Woods was also one of them. Tiger Woods underwent these injections for his knee surgery in 2008. Other than Tiger Woods the famous American tennis player James Riley Blake also underwent PRP therapy for his knee injuries, but unfortunately he was not satisfied from the treatment after losing in the first round of Wimbledon.
“You know, whether or not that (PRP treatment) helped. Figured couldn’t hurt. Supposed to get you back on the court quicker. I don’t know if it did. I mean, I was back in ten weeks. My trainer and other people say that that kind of tendonitis could last a lot longer and could keep going. But I was back and felt good, and basically now, right next to it, another ‑ the tendon has been damaged right next to it.” James Black said.
For a few reasons PRP treatment has been controversial. Dr. Anthony Galea, the popular sports-medicine specialist who injected PRP injections to Tiger Woods and to many other professional athletes, was arrested late last year in Toronto for attempting to smuggle human hormones across the Canadian border. According to the New York Times, he was also suspected of providing the players with performance-enhancing drugs.
The world Anti- Doping Agency was cautious in its approval of PRP therapy, although Dr. Sanchez told media that this attitude is changing. A meeting organized by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) on growth factors, which was held between twenty experts from the IOC in Lausanne.
These experts said that it is not doping. Therefore WADA removed this rule because this treatment has nothing to do with the increased performance.
The treatment seemed to be working for Nadal; Dr. Sanchez said that it is not necessarily a permanent cure, especially when an intense training of athlete’s success is built.
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