As some of you may know, I practice medicine as my main job. Recently I have been getting a lot of messages regarding guys with herniated discs, ligament injuries, and other issues that come from training.
As a long time practitioner, I have had to deal with these issues also, but luckily I have been able to play with some treatment options that have provided me great relief. Specifically Plalet Rich Plasma (PRP) and Fetal stem cell injections.
I wanted to share my experiences and answer any questions you guys may have. So lets start with PRP
A few years ago I partially tore my ACL during a skydiving landing. Thinking that the damage wasn't as bad as it was, I trained the following day and got caught in an accidental reap while passing side control which caused my ACL to blow out. After getting some imaging done, I chose to try PRP. Here is what the process looked like:
Step1: Blood is drawn from your arem, typically about 30-60 ml.
Step 2: The blood is then spun in a centrifuge, which separates the platelets and plasma from other components of the blood. The concentrated platelets and plasma, which contain growth factors and other regenerative substances, are then extracted and prepared for injection.
Step 3: You will have your injection site is cleaned and numbed with a local anesthetic. Then the concentrated platelets and plasma are then injected into the area being treated, such as a joint, tendon, or muscle. This part sucks....it hurts a lot, but it was worth it.
After the injection, you will be advised to rest for a short period of time and avoid strenuous activities for a few days. The entire procedure typically takes less than an hour, and you can usually resume their normal activities within a day or two. For me the day after of the injection and that evening felt like I had midgets with baseball bats hitting me in the knee non-stop.
The following morning I woke up with most of the pain gone, but a sensation that my knee was extremely stiff. This lasted about 3 days with each day feeling better and better.
About a week after the PRP treatment, my knee felt as good as new. That was my experience, but keep in mind that some patients may require multiple PRP injections, depending on the extent of their injury or condition.

Now lets talk about stem Cell treatments. I used this to treat some herniated discs in my neck which I can attribute to my military service and BJJ. Fetal stem cell injections are an experimental treatment that involves injecting stem cells from a fetus into the damaged area, for me it was into the herniated disc. The idea behind the treatment is that the stem cells will differentiate into disc cells, promoting the healing and regeneration of the damaged tissue.
Harvesting or obtaining the stem cells: Depending on the source of the stem cells, they may be harvested from the patient's own body (such as bone marrow or adipose tissue) or obtained from a donor (such as umbilical cord blood or placental tissue).
The proceedure typically goes like this.
1. First stem cells are prepared. The stem cells are typically processed and concentrated to increase their potency and purity.
2. Injecting the stem cells: The stem cells are injected into the affected area, such as a joint, muscle, or tendon. The injection site is usually numbed with a local anesthetic to minimize discomfort.
After the injection, you will be advised to rest and avoid strenuous activities for a period of time. The area will swell and may be a little uncomfortable for a while, this is normal. Unlike PRP, it takes a little longer to see the results. For me I could not notice any major improvements for about a month, then day by day everything started feeling better. By the 3 month post injection period, my neck felt good as new.
Now those are only my experiences and results will vary, but at least I wanted to throw this out there in case someone who is on the fence about spending the money for this treatment can make and informed decision.

The entire procedure usually takes less than an hour, and patients can usually resume their normal activities within a few days.