• Font Size    

Featured Slideshows

Celebrities Separated At Birth?
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

New Treatment Eases Discomfort Of Tendonitis

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +
Aug 4, 2008 6:27 pm US/Eastern

New Treatment Eases Discomfort Of Tendonitis

Reporting
Dr. Max Gomez
NEW YORK (CBS) ― Overdoing it on the playing field, or even at the computer, can bring on a case of chronic tendonitis.

The condition leaves sufferers feeling achy and stiff, but there's a new procedure that may help ease the pain.

Doctors call them overuse injuries, caused by overdoing exercises or other activities, like taking too many tennis swings.

In Larry Lipson's case, gripping the handlebars while riding his bike for a few too many miles gave him a bad case of tendonitis.

"It's just extreme pain," Lipson said. "Shaking hands, making a fist, lifting things up, I mean common day occurrences.

Larry had an injury right where a tendon attaches to the elbow – classic tendonitis.

Larry underwent physical therapy, ice, and anti-inflammatories, but nothing helped.

Now, Larry will have a simple procedure in may that just may cure his tendonitis.

After drawing a small tube of blood, Dr. Brian Halpern, of the Hospital for Special Surgery, spins the blood in a centrifuge. The centrifuge causes the cloudy plasma to settle at the top, after which he can draw the plasma into a syringe.

The plasma is rich in cell bits called platelets and their growth factors.

"They help generate blood flow, they help generate healing," Halpern said. "And [we] try reconstitute the healing environment and, in turn, settle your pain, maybe reconstitute part of the tendon."

That plasma is simply injected right into the area of tendonitis – whether it's in the elbow, shoulder, knee, even hamstrings – and so far with amazing results.

"Well, we've done over 20 cases so far in the last year," Halpern said. "So far…90 to 100 percent less pain, more function."

David Bellis had the plasma injection done about four months ago after injuring his elbow tendon twice. Now he's back playing serious tennis.

"[My elbow is] stronger and stronger than ever," Bellis said. "You know, hitting the ball, there's no pain to restrict you. No, no pain at all."

Patients ice the injected area for two days, and then are put on a gentle stretching and strengthening program for a few weeks. After just one month, most patients are back to full activity.

The treatment is not used for early tendonitis yet, but because the injections are quick, simple, and low-risk, the plasma injections may become a much more common treatment.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

WCBSTV.com's Most Popular Pages

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Top Stories

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.