PRP Treatment in Sports Injuries
How Your Own Blood Plasma Can Boost Healing
Sports can lead to acute or chronic stress-related injuries. As ACP Therapy is a natural treatment, more and more sports medicine and orthopedic specialists recommend it for muscle injuries. Following ACP therapy, patients with sports injuries are often pain-free more quickly and can return to their sporting activities sooner.
The German Professional Association for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery (BVOU) records around 1.5 million sports accidents in Germany every year, 53% of which occur in clubs and 47% in recreational sports. Some 83% of these injuries require medical treatment. Sports are good for us, but injuries sometimes occur in the course of an athlete’s "career,” often in sports such as soccer, skiing or mountain biking. In sports medicine, a distinction is made between acute sports injuries–usually accidents–and chronic sports injuries due to excessive or incorrect strain.
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Sports Physicians and Orthopedic Specialist Recommend ACP Therapy for Sports Injuries
ACP therapy can efficiently help the body's healing process in cases of chronic sports injuries affecting muscles, tendons, or ligaments. The bioactive agents are biologic and very well tolerated because they come from the body itself. The body's own cells and natural bioactive agents, such as platelets and growth factors, have an anti-inflammatory effect and can relieve pain naturally.
ACP Therapy for Sports Injuries
ACP therapy is used to treat muscle injuries, especially typical sports conditions such as tennis elbow1–2 or heel spurs3. In almost all conditions, the primary cause is chronic overstrain of muscles, tendons or ligaments in the affected parts of the body. Typical sports injuries that can be treated with ACP.
Typical sports injuries that can be treated with ACP
ligament injuries
meniscus damage
runner's/jumper'sknee
Achilles tendon pain
tennis elbow / lateral epicondylitis / golfer's elbow
Heel spurs
muscle injury (torn muscle)
Since 2011, ACP therapy has also been approved specifically for the treatment of muscle injuries in professional sports. According to team doctors, a large number of clubs in the German Bundesliga worked with ACP in 2019. Many team doctors from other professional sports including handball, basketball, and ice hockey, as well as many association doctors, also use ACP therapy for sports injuries with great success.
Preventing Sports Injuries
The best way to prevent injury during sports is to correctly assess your own performance and potential hazards. Sports activity should always be adapted to your personal physical condition. It is also important to warm up properly before training or competitions, as well as to do stretching and relaxation exercises after exercise. For certain sports, appropriate protective clothing should always be worn, such as helmets and/or pads. With acute injuries to muscles, tendons, or ligaments, the tried and tested RICE regimen helps, because the first few minutes after an event are crucial to keep the consequences to an absolute minimum.
First Aid for Sports Injuries: The RICE Regimen
R = Rest
Stop exercising immediately.
I = Ice
Cool the injured area with ice, cold water, or compresses.
C = Compression
Apply a compression bandage with moderate tension.
E = Elevation
The injury site should be higher than the heart.
Who Can Perform ACP Therapy for Muscle Injuries?
In most cases, a sports medicine or orthopedic specialist treats muscle injuries. The expert diagnoses the sports injury in a preliminary consultation and thorough examination, then suggests treatment options. ACP therapy for muscle injuries is often one of these because it is easy to perform and carries no risks or side effects. You can use Find a Doctor on our website to find an appropriate practice for treating muscle injuries with ACP.
Do Health Insurance Companies Cover ACP Therapy for Sports Injuries?
Private health insurance companies often recognize the success of ACP therapy in sports injuries and reimburse the costs once treatment is complete. If you have any further questions about the treatment of sports or muscle injuries with ACP, please contact a physician in your area who offers this treatment.
Trust in the Body's Own Strength
Alternatives to ACP Therapy for Muscle Injuries
The traditional treatment methods for muscle and sports injuries include the administration of anti-inflammatory medication, the application of low temperature (cryotherapy), immobilization using plaster casts or orthoses, physical and occupational therapy to build muscle, and electrotherapy. Surgery may also be necessary in more serious cases. The choice of therapy always depends on the type and severity of the injury as well as on individual patient factors.
In many cases, ACP therapy can be used for muscle injuries in addition to other treatment methods such as physical therapy or after surgery to help the healing process. Compared to drug therapies, ACP therapy for sports injuries has the great advantage that it only uses the body's own, 100% biologic and well-tolerated bioactive agents, so it can be repeated as often as desired. Also, ACP therapy is carried out on in an outpatient setting, quickly, and in a sterile environment.
biologic and well-tolerated
The bioactive agents with ACP are biologic and fully tolerated because they come from the body itself
treatment
Treatment usually takes less than 30 minutes.
Who is ACP Therapy for Sports Injuries Suitable For?
Whether it's soccer, skiing, cycling (mountain biking), hiking, or climbing, in sports the limits of endurance are often exceeded and the risk of injury increases. Following an (acute) accident or (chronic) overexertion, ACP therapy can efficiently help the body to heal muscle, tendon, or ligament injury. This treatment method is suitable for patients of all ages and physiques who want a natural, uncomplicated, and well-tolerated therapy for their sports injury in order to get fit again sooner.
Also, there has been particularly good experience with ACP therapy in the healing process after orthopedic procedures (such as cruciate ligament surgery, meniscus suture, microfracture surgery, or rotator cuff suture), as it additionally activates the body's self-healing properties and can accelerate the patient's recovery.
ACP Therapy for Muscle and Sports Injuries: Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take before you can exercise again after ACP therapy?
For which injuries is ACP therapy suitable?