Consider Non-Surgical Treatment of High School and College ACL Tears and Other Sports Injuries
In the United States, about 8 million students participate in high school athletics and over 499,000 go on to compete as NCAA athletes [1]. Unfortunately, as all parents know, both high school and college athletics come with high risk of injury. In fact, high school athletes account for an estimated 2 million injuries each year [2]. Likewise, a five year study on NCAA college sports estimated 1,053,370 injuries occurred – about 210,674 injuries per year [3]. Assuming one injury per athlete and the same group of athletes all five years, that means roughly 42% of athletes suffer an injury in their college athletic career.
The leading cause of sport-related surgeries are injuries to the knee joint – which is also the second most common sports injury, after the ankle. Knee injuries, especially of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), are among the most costly sport injuries, often requiring expensive surgery and rehabilitation. A study on ACL injuries, collecting data from 100 nationally representative US high schools, reported that 76.6% of all ACL injuries resulted in surgery [4].
But, Is Surgery the Right Option?
ACL surgery actually amputates the injured ACL and surgically installs a new one. The big problem with this is that the new ACL doesn’t have the same intact nerve supply or stability of the original ACL. In fact, most athletes never regain normal balance or control over their knee after surgery, and are 6 times more likely to re-tear it or tear their other ACL.
Rather than amputate the original ACL, Regenexx Pittsburgh offers a stem cell procedure that assists the injured ACL in healing naturally. This procedure injects stem cells from your own body directly into the tear. 7 out of 10 patients saw great healing following this procedure and 75% of patients returned to their favorite sports without surgery. Our experience treating ACL tears with the Regenexx patented stem cell treatment has shown that it may be a better option for those who have experienced a partial or complete non-retracted ACL tear.
Proven Reduced Recovery Time
Those who have undergone this alternative-to-surgery method through Regenexx Pittsburgh were typically back to sports at 6 months or sooner, whereas their peers who had surgery were often not back to play until a year after surgery. Not only this, but these patients also went back to full sports activity at a very high rate and low re-tear rates [5].
Regenexx Pittsburgh also offers similar alternatives to surgery for other injuries high school and college athletes or their parents may suffer, such as injuries in the hip, shoulder, elbow, and ankle. To find out if these stem cell procedures are right for you or for your favorite young athlete, please get in touch with us.
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Sources:
[1] http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-probability-competing-college-athletics
[3]https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6448a2.htm
