Recently, two college baseball pitchers came to me complaining of pain in their elbows. Prior to seeing me, several sports medicine orthopedic doctors had them undergo MRIs, but the tests came back negative. The presumptive diagnosis was over use stress of the ulna collateral ligaments (UCL). The team’s trainer heard of my success with treating many athletes with various sports injuries and brought them to me for evaluation. In addition to MRI, I use ultrasound to help with difficult diagnoses. It was my opinion that the pitchers developed partial tears in their UCL, and the ultrasound confirmed my thoughts.
Tears in the UCL are commonly known as Pitcher’s Elbow because repetitive throwing puts an excessive strain on the tendons and ligaments in the elbow. Pain usually develops on the inner side of the elbow. Your elbow joint may feel like it locks or gets stuck, and it may be difficult to move the elbow as you did before. This condition negatively affects pitching performance.
I am very excited about the positive results that I am seeing on sports injuries, including pitchers elbow, with the use of Regenerative Injection Therapy. This is a treatment option for orthopedic injuries and conditions that have traditionally required surgery or other extensive treatments. Many athletes are coming to my office to be treated for various sports injuries that would normally require surgery and keep them on the bench for up to one year. PRP involves extracting a minimal amount of the patient’s own blood, spinning it in a centrifuge to separate the blood into components, and re-injecting the fluid into the injured area or an arthritic joint. This releases bioactive tissue growth factors that lead to improved natural tissue healing and the growth of new cartilage.
Very often, when pitchers develop tears in their UCL, they are recommended for a surgical procedure called Tommy John surgery. Named after a professional baseball pitcher, Tommy John surgery is a surgical reconstruction of elbow ligaments that are often torn in baseball pitchers. This procedure requires that the injured athlete be out of commission for one year.
After the PRP treatment, I advised the college pitchers that they could resume pitching again in two weeks, but only throwing at 50% of their normal speed. They will gradually increase their speed over six weeks and return to their game.
Athletes are thrilled with the outcomes from PRP treatment because it allows them to return to their game quickly after injury and helps them to avoid surgery. If you are experiencing pitchers elbow or joint pain, I would be happy to evaluate you to determine whether you are a candidate for the incredible new treatment.
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