A sports injury can sideline you for weeks or months, and may even end your athletic career. Dr. Marilyn E. Copeland is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and fellowship-trained sports medicine specialist at Fondren Orthopedic Group in Webster, Texas, and she’s pleased to offer the same groundbreaking stem cell and platelet-rich plasma therapies that star athletes use to recover from wounds, fractures, and injuries. If you’re in the Houston area and have an acute or chronic orthopedic condition that would benefit from accelerated healing, call or request an appointment online today.
Stem Cell Therapy Q & A
What are stem cells?
Stem cells are undifferentiated, or “blank slate,” cells that can develop into more specific types of cells, including those that make up the muscles, nerves, tendons, ligaments, and bones. Stem cells are found throughout the human body. As an adult, you have plentiful stem cells in your bone marrow and fat.
What is PRP?
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is another kind of autologous therapy that accelerates healing of bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Your blood contains platelets, which rush to the site of a wound to clog it up and prevent the flow of blood from your vessels. Platelets are rich in human growth factors that speed up healing.
To create a PRP injection, Dr. Copeland’s staff first removes a small amount of your blood from your arm with a syringe. She then puts the blood into a centrifuge, which separates the plasma (liquid) from the platelets. Once the platelets are reintroduced into the plasma, they’re about five times as concentrated as they are in normal blood.
Preparing a PRP injection takes just minutes. Dr. Copeland uses PRP to enhance surgery and to treat:
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Knee arthritis
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Acute ligament injuries
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Acute muscle injuries
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Chronic tendon injuries
How can PRP therapy help women?
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Women experience soft tissue injuries more frequently than men for a number of reasons:
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Body alignment: Women tend to have wider hips and knees that point inward, both of which can increase the risk of injury.
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Muscular differences: On average, women have less muscle strength and use different muscles than men for many physical tasks, creating greater strain on certain areas of the body.
Range of motion: Women are typically more flexible than men and have a wider range of motion, making hyperextension and other extreme muscle stretches more likely.
Dr. Copeland often prescribes PRP therapy in combination with women-specific strengthening exercises to help you recover faster from injury and build a strong defense against re-injury in the future.
If you want to learn more about the healing properties of stem cell therapy and PRP injections, call or request an appointment online today.
Stem Cell Therapy Specialist
COMMON TREATMENTS
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