The term PRP stands for Platelet-Rich Plasma, a component of blood that is rich in platelets. Platelets are small cell fragments tat play a crucial role in blood clotting and contain growth factors that aid in tissue repair and regeneration.

How PRP Works

The concentrated platelets in PRP release growth factors and cytokines when injected into the body. These bioactive molecules stimulate cell proliferation, collagen production, and tissue regeneration. PRP promotes natural healing processes by enhancing the body’s ability to repair damaged tissues and reducing inflammation.

Preparation

This type of medical treatment is performed by utilizing a patient’s own blood to assist healing and regeneration in numerous tissues.

PRP is prepared by drawing a small amount of the patient’s blood and placing it into a centrifuge. The centrifuge then spins the blood at high speeds to separate its components, concentrating the platelets in the plasma. The concentrated PRP is extracted from the centrifuged blood and prepared for injection. The PRP is then injected into the target area using a fine needle. The resulting PRP is then collected for use in various treatments.

Applications of PRP

Orthopedics and Sports Medicine:

• Joint Injuries: PRP is used to treat joint injuries such as osteoarthritis, particularly in the knee, shoulder, and hip.
• Tendon and Ligament Injuries: It can accelerate the healing of tendonitis, ligament sprains, and chronic tendinopathies.
• Muscle Injuries: Athletes often use PRP to speed up the recovery of muscle strains and tears.

Osteoarthritis:

• Knee Osteoarthritis: PRP injections are commonly used to treat knee osteoarthritis. They help reduce pain, improve joint function, and potentially slow the progression of the disease.
• Hip Osteoarthritis: PRP can also be injected into the hip joint to relieve pain and improve mobility in patients with hip osteoarthritis.
• Other Joints: PRP therapy can be applied to other joints affected by osteoarthritis, such as the shoulders, elbows, and ankles.

Benefits of PRP

Natural Treatment

• PRP uses the patient’s own blood which lessens the risk of allergic reactions and infections

Minimally Invasive

• The procedure involves only injections, making it less invasive than surgical options

Accelerated Healing

• PRP can speed up the healing process for multiple injuries and conditions, reducing recovery time

Improved Tissue Health

• By stimulating collagen production an cell proliferation, PRP can improve the overall health and appearance of tissues

Consideration and Side Effects

It is important to always keep in mind your own safety and comfort when proceeding with cosmetic treatments like PRP. Some possible side effects include temporary pain, swelling, bruising, and redness at the injection site. These side effects will most likely resolve within a few days after the procedure.

Do What’s Best For YOU

PRP therapy harnesses the body’s natural healing abilities to promote tissue repair and regeneration. Its versatility in treating a range of medical and cosmetic conditions has made it a popular choice among patients seeking minimally invasive treatments with natural results. By understanding the process and benefits of PRP, you can make an informed decision about whether it’s the right option for you.

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Any physical activity, including sports, have potential health and safety risks. You can pretty much take any risk of mild weather sports and add that extra element of low temperatures and the risks they bring.

Common winter sports injuries include fractures, sprains, strains, concussions, and joint dislocations. The location of the injuries varies based on the sport. Snowboarders have a greater incidence of wrist injuries, tailbone injuries and concussions. Knee injuries are more common in skiers, namely ACL tears.

Don’t avoid being out there and having fun!  Take precautions so you are able and fit for the entire season.

One of the more obvious differences in sports injuries is due to the cold air. You body, specifically your muscles, are cold and tight.  Winter sports demand a special warm up period with light exercise and stretching to make muscles, tendons, and ligaments less prone to injury. Light pre-slope cardio exercises will raise your heart rate, deliver heat to the muscles and temper your body for the day ahead.

Always check and test your equipment and before the season even starts. Make sure your appropriate protective gear for your sport is in good shape and properly fitted.  Hand-me-down gear may not be in your athlete’s best interest.  Wear and tear, different body types, advances in technology all play  a role when accessing the situation.

Don’t skimp on protective gear; pad those elbows and knees, guard those ankles, get a great helmet!

Wearing the right clothing is also essential. Layering is always a good consideration. A layering system usually includes three components: an inner moisture-wicking layer; a middle insulating layer; and an outer shell layer. Choose breathable fabrics, when possible, a layer of insulation, and an outside roomy layer of wind and water resistance to stay dry and warm. You should also base your clothing on your expected energy output and distance from a warmup shelter. You may want to stay away from loose, flowy fabrics and go for more of a form fitting choice to keep body temperature in and avoid getting caught on something.

Falling is inevitable. Learning how to fall safely is essential.  When you feel yourself loosing balance or control, trying to control the fall may minimize injury.  How to fall safely varies by sport. Here are two examples to show how they differ.

EXAMPLE– Snowboarding involves a great degree of balance as you have nothing to hold onto and are tearing down the slopes on a board. If possible, try to fall forward or backward. Keep your legs flexed to reduce your risk of ankle or lower leg injuries and try your best to keep your body as low to the ground as possible to minimize the impact. Bend your arms forward as you fall so the main force of the impact is on your knees and forearms to protect your wrists and hands. If you are falling backwards, avoid trying to break the fall with your arms, this may cause shoulder injuries.

EXAMPLE- Skiing differs greatly from snowboarding, falling forward when skiing can end in disaster. With this sport, the trick is to fall onto your side. Shift your skis to the left or right to alter your direction and reduce speed, and drop onto your side so as much of your body hits the ground at the same time.

Even though you are not in the heat of the sun, and probably not really feeling the thirst, you still need to stay hydrated. You should drink before, during and after your sports activity.

Certain activities, like sledding can get a bit crowded, with everyone trying to get in their run.  Pace yourself and keep your distance from other sledders to avoid collisions. Make sure to sled feet first and seated, no hot-shot daredevil positions please. Single sledders are best, you don’t want the added weight of another person which may increase the speed, and you don’t want another body to slam into if you wipe out.

If you do get injured, don’t ignore it. If you suffer a sprain or strain; rest, ice and elevate the injured area. Do not use the injured area if it causes pain.

Not sure how badly you are injured?

WHEN IN DOUBT, HAVE IT CHECKED OUT!

Nothing good will come from ignoring or toughing out an injury.

If you are experiencing orthopedic issues, Dr. David Lopez has 2 convenient offices. Awarded NJ Top Doc for consecutive years starting from 2014 to 2022, his extensive training allows him to access your needs and your medical needs to find the best solution for you and your lifestyle.

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What does this exactly mean to you? Bone is living tissue that is constantly being broken down and replaced. Osteoporosis occurs when the creation of new bone doesn’t keep up with the loss of old bone. When you’re young, your body makes new bone faster than it breaks down old bone and your bone mass increases. Most people reach their peak bone mass by age 30. Peak bone mass is partly inherited and varies also by ethnic group.

The higher your peak bone mass, the more bone you have and the less likely you are to develop osteoporosis as you age. Osteoporosis is called a “silent disease” because you may not notice any changes until a bone breaks. Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and brittle, commonly occur in the hip, wrist, or spine.

Osteoporosis affects men and women of all races. Your unchangeable risk factors are your sex, age, race, family history and body frame size.  Hormone levels and dietary factors weigh on your risks, as do certain medical conditions and medications you may be on.

In the early stages of bone loss, there really are no symptoms.  This is why testing and tracking is important. What are the signs when you do have weakened bones?

• Back pain, caused by a fractured or collapsed vertebra
• Loss of height over time
• A stooped posture
• A bone that breaks much more easily than expected

You have risk factors that you have the ability to change with lifestyle choices to prevent bone loss.

• Sedentary lifestyle. People who spend a lot of time sitting have a higher risk of osteoporosis than do those who are more active.
• Excessive alcohol consumption. Regular consumption of more than two alcoholic drinks a day increases the risk of osteoporosis.
• Tobacco use. The exact role tobacco plays in osteoporosis isn’t clear, but it has been shown that tobacco use contributes to weak bones.

Get up and start moving!

Combine strength training exercises with weight-bearing and balance exercises, this goes for every age.  It is never too early or too late to start.

• Strength training helps strengthen muscles and bones in your arms and upper spine.
• Weight-bearing exercises — such as walking, jogging, running, stair climbing, skipping rope, skiing and impact-producing sports — affect mainly the bones in your legs, hips and lower spine.
• Balance exercises such as tai chi and yoga can reduce your risk of falling especially as you get older.

Change your eating habits.

Before you put that spoon in your mouth, look at what is on it and think…will this add to my health or detract from it?

Good sources of calcium include:

• Low-fat dairy products
• Dark green leafy vegetables
• Canned salmon or sardines with bones
• Soy products, such as tofu
• Calcium-fortified cereals and orange juice

Taking calcium supplements, beginning at age 18, can absolutely assist in keeping bones healthy. Men and women between the ages of 18 and 50 need 1,000 milligrams of calcium a day. This daily amount increases to 1,200 milligrams when women turn 50 and men turn 70.  Dietary changes adding good sources of calcium are a bonus.

Vitamin D improves the body’s ability to absorb calcium and improves bone health in other ways. People can get some of their vitamin D from sunlight. Dietary sources of vitamin D include cod liver oil, trout, and salmon. Many types of milk and cereal have been fortified with vitamin D.

BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW

Eating foods that have a lot of salt (sodium) causes your body to lose calcium and can lead to bone loss.

Beans, seeds, nuts, and grains, while very healthy food choices, are high in phytates When you eat foods high in phytic acid, the molecules bind with certain minerals in your digestive tract, including:

• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Iron
• Zinc
• Chromium
• Manganese

Coffee, tea, and soft drinks (sodas) contain caffeine, which may decrease calcium absorption and contribute to bone loss. Choose these drinks in moderation.

Part of our practice is to educate our patients to avoid injuries and live a healthy, pain-free life.

If you are experiencing health issues, Dr. David Lopez has 2 convenient offices. Awarded NJ Top Doc for many years in a row,  his extensive training allows him to access your needs and your medical needs to find the best solution for you and your lifestyle.

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Increased physical activity can mean an increase in injuries, especially if you have been a sofa spud for over a year. Sports account for 2/3 of the hospitalizations that occur outside of the home. In 2019, that totaled 2.3 million injuries.

Now that Covid restrictions have eased, people are more mobile in general, not feeling like they need to be home.  That mobility increases the rate of car accidents too.

There have actually been 13 studies, 11 of which met the conclusion showing that the risk of unintentional injuries increases with increasing ambient temperatures. On days with moderate temperatures, the increased risk varied between 0.4% and 5.3% for each 1°C increase in ambient temperature. On extreme temperature days, the risk of injuries decreased.

Take is slow and easy, build up to where you used to/think you should be. Do not forget to warm-up and stretch, hydrate to avoid problems, wear your sunscreen, plan your safety gear, and take breaks as you need to. An avoidable injury or issue can kill the rest of your summer.

In many sports, they advise to keep your eye on the ball.  When it comes to your family, keep your eyes on the kids. Many injuries can be avoided with careful supervision, especially around pools, trampolines, and playgrounds.

For youth sports, as a parent you would love to wrap your child in bubble wrap to insulate them from harm.  Protective gear is the next best thing.

Many sports require safety equipment.  This is a worthy investment to protect life and limb, especially for contact sports like football, basketball, and baseball. It is best if you purchase new equipment, specially fitted for the sports enthusiast rather than borrow some which may not be the latest version or the proper fit.

Yardwork alone presents its own hazards. Gear such as garden hoses, lawn edgers, leaf blowers, pruning shears, wheelbarrows and chainsaws cause 73 percent of injuries (2,325,857), the balance is due to lawn mowers.

And you always have these:

• Back injuries from heavy lifting
• Strained muscles from planting or raking.
• Rotator cuff tendonitis from pruning hedges with heavy sheers
• Lower back pain from weeding

Bicycles, ATVs, Mopeds and Minibikes should be used age appropriately with any and all safety equipment.  These are fast moving and can cause great injury. They are not toys, and need to be treated with the utmost of safety in mind.

Heat related injuries are a concern but are easily avoided if you do your strenuous activity on a cooler day or the cooler part of the day.  By all means, STAY HYDRATED and create shade when possible.

If you suffer a sprain or strain, rest, ice and elevate the injured area. Do not use the injured area if it causes pain.

For heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke stop the activity and sit in a cool place (like air conditioning or shade). Drink fluids and avoid strenuous activity for a few hours. Heatstroke is a life-threatening emergency!

Not sure how badly you are injured?

WHEN IN DOUBT, HAVE IT CHECKED OUT!

Nothing good will come from ignoring or toughing out an injury.

If you are experiencing health issues, Dr. David Lopez has 3 convenient offices. Awarded NJ Top Doc for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2014, his extensive training allows him to access your needs and your medical needs to find the best solution for you and your lifestyle.

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If you are like most people, you have been home a lot, sitting in front of your computer or television, trying to maintain your career or your sanity. Between quarantining and social distancing, the home you loved has become your confinement.

Many of our patients come in saying Covid is a pain, but in actuality, it is giving people pain who have not had the virus.

The world is off their routine since Mid-March when realization hit that we are all in danger of a new life-threatening illness. Gone are the hours we spent at the gym, stretching, toning, and socializing. Gone is our attempt at a healthy diet, comfort food has ruled for 10 months.

Welcome to sedentary living.

A sedentary lifestyle is one in which you are relaxing more than you are being active. As a very productive employee in an office, you could take a stroll to the bathroom, chit chat, at the water cooler, or go out for lunch. That has been replaced with sitting at your desk at home with your drink in front of you and very little time to roam, stretch, or be you.

Even active adults that enjoyed golf, tennis and the pool are parked in front of the television in an attempt to avoid exposure to disease. Newsflash, unwinding can be hazardous to your health.

Inactivity can actually trigger a variety of health concerns, such as arthritis, osteoporosis, and diabetes. It can also lead to inevitable weight gain and weakened muscles and joints. In your weakened condition, you are more at risk for stiffness, injury and even falls. You may also experience decreased mobility in your limbs and feel a bit rusty.

You stand up at your desk to do something and your hips are stiff and painful.  Your knees are noisy and sore.  Part is the extra poundage you have accumulated, but part is not using the joints and muscles as you did pre-lockdown. Disuse of muscles leads to atrophy.

Disuse also has cardiovascular effects. Your oxygen uptake is decreased, your systolic blood pressure can rise, and your heart can weaken.

And it is not your imagination, your mental processing is really slower than it used to be, your memory and concentration is poor, and many people are anxious and depressed. There is actually a name for this…Disuse Syndrome aka Use It or Lose It.

So, what can you do?  USE IT!

Make an effort to stretch when ever you can, even if it is sitting at your desk. Try some neck stretches and leg lifts, a little ankle rolling and side twists.  When you get up to use the bathroom or make some lunch, do some toe touching and ceiling reaches. Turn on some upbeat music and sing and dance around the house.  Music is a tonic on its own and a real mood lifter.

Bundle up and walk, or mask up and walk with a partner. Visit nature, get out and breathe the fresh air. Just keep moving to the best of your ability.

here are dietary supplements you can try to minimize pain and damage such as glucosamine, chondroitin and turmeric.  Watch your salt intake and check out anti-inflammatory diets.

Let’s hope you escape Covid19 successfully, make sure you are no worse for wear when life resumes as we all hope.

If you are experiencing health issues, Dr. David Lopez has convenient offices. Awarded NJ Top Doc for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2014, his extensive training allows him to access your needs and your medical needs to find the best solution for you and your lifestyle.

https://lopezortho.com/

Little Silver

200 White Road, Suite 101
Little Silver, NJ 07739
Phone (732) 888-2100
Fax (732) 888-2188

Edison

3840 Park Avenue, Bldg A, Suite 101
Edison, NJ 08820
Phone (732) 888-2100
Fax (732) 888-2188

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A lot of moving parts and soft tissue in a body part which takes a lot of abuse mean a lot of opportunity for injuries. Any way you move during the course of the day means movement for this joint, without even realizing it. It seems that only when an injury happens do people realize how much they depend on their knees.

The knee joins the femur (thigh bone) to the Tibia (shin bone).  A smaller bone runs alongside the tibia called the fibula, and the kneecap, or patella, are the other bones that make the knee joint. The kneecap rests against a groove at the end of the femur, allowing it to move around.

There is a protective layer of tissue called cartilage which provides cushioning, allowing the bones to glide around without difficulty. Between the femur and tibia are disks of tissue called menisci which also help absorb the pounding the knee takes.  Now add tendons (which connect the knee bones to the leg muscles that move the knee joint) and ligaments (which join the knee bones and provide stability to the knee). Your knee also contains many bursae, or fluid-filled sacs, help the knee move smoothly. With the constant demand on this joint and its complexity, much can go wrong.

And when it does, a phenomenal tool for diagnosis is Arthroscopy, a minimally invasive surgical technique. Using a small incision and an even smaller miniature camera attached to the arthroscope, your orthopedic surgeon gets a view of what has transpired and what it will take to make you better.

Knee arthroscopy is most commonly used for:

• torn anterior or posterior cruciate ligaments
• torn meniscus (the cartilage between the bones in the knee)
• patella (kneecap) that is out of position
• trimming pieces of torn cartilage that are loose in the joint
• removal of a Baker’s cyst
• fractures in the knee bones
• swollen synovium (the lining in the joint)
• treating inflammation and infections

Dr. David Lopez will discuss the options of anesthetic prior to your procedure. Depending on you, your health, and your injury; there is a choice of local numbing, regional numbing, or general anesthesia when you are asleep. The procedure typically takes less than one hour, and you will likely go home right after with instructions to ice to reduce swelling.

Using this procedure, a minimally invasive procedure, results in less pain, less recovery time, and less scarring. It can be done as outpatient surgery, which saves time and reduces expense.

Not sure if you are a candidate for arthroscopy? The answer is easy to find out in one of Dr. David Lopez’s 3 convenient offices. Awarded NJ Top Doc for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2014, his extensive training allows him to access your medical needs to find the best solution for you and your lifestyle.

Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Specialists

Dr David V Lopez Md FAAOS

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