Blood platelet injections can help heal injured tendons

Jade Ellis was a star long jumper at Duke University, and he's trying to make a career out of it – except for one painful injury.

"Mid-January, I actually tore my Achilles' tendon while competing in the long jump at UNC," Ellis said.

He went to Dr. David Berkoff with Duke Sports Medicine, who recommended using a method called Platelet Rich Plasma, or PRP, injections. The method will let Ellis avoid surgery.

Berkoff took 12 cc of Ellis' blood and used a double-barreled syringe to separate out 3 cc of concentrated plasma. He used an ultrasound to direct the syringe's needle and injected the plasma directly into Ellis' injured tendon.

The concentration of platelets in the plasma encourages healing.

Platelets have "a whole host of growth factors that are responsible for the proliferative healing phase of an injury," Berkoff said.

PRP injections have been used to speed up healing in dentistry, cardiac surgery and even arthritis treatments. Its application to tendon injuries is relatively new.

Ellis had his first PRP treatment a month ago. "Between the PRP injection and the ones I did after that, I was able to do a lot more," he said.

After his most recent injection, Ellis will take a few days and slowly build up his workout routine.

"Hopefully, we can get back to a training on a very competitive level in the next couple of months," he said.