PRP = PED?

Listening to the radio the other day (on Mike and Mike ESPN 1050), Tiger Woods was being interviewed about his connection to Dr. Galea. As some of you may know, Dr. Galea was purported to have given performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to professional athletes a few months ago. Tiger Woods denied any use of performance enhancing drugs but stated that he saw Dr. Galea for PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma therapy.

What is Platelet Rich Plasma?

To answer this question we must first understand platelets. Platelets exist in all human blood and are used to “clot” blood. Without platelets in your blood, a little cut would end in extensive blood loss and possibly death. People with impaired platelet aggregation have a condition called hemophilia. The important part of platelets, in regards to PRP, is that platelets also cause cell growth. This cell growth is necessary for healing a wound and to eventually close the wound. Platelet Rich Plasma is relatively new and innovative technique used by physicians to treat chronic and lingering injuries. The mechanism behind this technique is injection of platelets into the site of the injury which causes cell growth and repair. Recent research is mixed but some show significant improvements in the rate of healing.

This technique is usually used on people with long standing chronic issues that were not successfully treated with conservative therapy. Conditions such as tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis can be treated with PRP. PRP, however, is not a full proof procedure that is somewhat invasive. Minor conditions, such as these, can also be treated with simple physical therapy. PRP is performed by physicians usually in an outpatient setting mostly when physical therapy has was not successful.

So if PRP a Performance enhancing drug?

No, PRP is used just to increase the rate of healing without any systemic effect. Improvements in performance would be related to a decrease in pain and increase in functional strength. Maybe if PRP enhanced performance Tiger Woods would have won a major this year?