Curing Sports Foot Injuries

Curing Sports Foot Injuries

Dr. Ben Pearl, licensed and board certified Podiatrist will be presenting on cutting edge techniques for treating plantar fasciitis. In particular, we’ll be discussing options associated with stem cell implantation. We’ll also discuss applicability of this procedure to related conditions such as Achilles tendon issues.

Abstract:
Dr Ben Pearl will present on some new running mechanics research and some treatment options for nagging chronic injuries. New treatment options include laser treatments, shockwave therapy, integrating with ART and MAT therapy and regenerative medicine options.
Traditional methods are generally used as first line treatments. when an injury requires more blood supply or a catalyst to start the healing cascade non traditional treatments can be employed. Shockwave(ESWT) involves using hight intensity sound waves focused on tissue to start a healing cascade for tissue with poor healing capability. Laser involves using the in fared spectrum of light to cause a photo biologic effect and stimulate circulation to injuries that have swelling as well as more chronic injuries. Regenerative medicine has two main areas for sports injuries. One is the use of PRP which comes from your own platelets which are drawn and spun down to get growth factors that help heal. The other is amnion cells that are processed from donor placental tissue that has been processed so any immune reaction is nullified.
In addition , diagnostic ultrasound will be reviewed which can aid in real time assessment of injuries and does not incur the long wait and high cost of MRI

to discuss some new running mechanics research and some treatment options for nagging chronic injuries. New treatment options include laser treatments, shockwave therapy, integrating with ART and MAT therapy and regenerative medicine options.
Traditional methods are generally used as first line treatments. when an injury requires more blood supply or a catalyst to start the healing cascade non traditional treatments can be employed. Shockwave(ESWT) involves using hight intensity sound waves focused on tissue to start a healing cascade for tissue with poor healing capability. Laser involves using the in fared spectrum of light to cause a photo biologic effect and stimulate circulation to injuries that have swelling as well as more chronic injuries. Regenerative medicine has two main areas for sorts injuries, One is the use of PRP which comes from your own platelets which are drawn and spun down to get growth factors that help heal. The other is amnion cells that are processed from donor placental tissue that has been processed so any immune reaction is nullified.

In addition , diagnostic ultrasound will be reviewed which can aid in real time assessment of injuries and does not incur the long wait and high cost of MRI.

To RSVP, please go to our meetup page, http://www.meetup.com/Old-Town-Sports-Medicine-Fitness-and-Health-Society/ and RSVP.

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Achilles tendonitis, plantar fascitiis, and turf toe

Achilles tendonitis, plantar fascitiis, and turf toe all have on thing in common they are common foot injuries and they are notoriously hard to heal.  Often people are loathe to give up their favorite sport despite these injuries.  The author of this blog post, Paul Roberts, suffered some trauma to my left foot while running in Vibrams, and while it’s not any of those there injuries its quite similar.  My injury is an inflammation of the tendon connecting my anterior tibilasis to foot.  The pain is constant and running makes it worse.  Specifically the pain is in the ball of my foot, in between the second and third metatarsal.

Stuff I’ve tried in the past:

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  • Orthotics: result — expensive and did not change anything
  • Ice, Rest, antinflammatory spices, ibuprofen, naproxen, — usually very effective but did not work for this injury
  • Electrostim — not effective
  • Acupuncture — tried once — would need to go for about ten appointments to determine effectiveness
  • Muscle Activation Techniques from Impact Sport Science — effective in reducing pain and improving function but only to a point — treatment wasn’t permanent (requires continuous treatment, but effective while getting it once a week.)  In the new treatment discussed below, I catch up with Jenn to do this short interview.
  • Massage Therapy — Couldn’t find a specialist who knew a lot about this injury.  I saw some general massage therapists, but it didn’t help long term.  I did see Cam over at Mynt Medical who did a great job at showing me the source of the pain.  Potentially continuous massage treatment might further reduce the inflammation.  Here are some photos of her working on me.
  • Miscellaneous: Prayer, epson salts, meditating, nothing.
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Muscle Activation Techniques

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IMG_6791

Do you have an injury like this?

Dr. Ben Pearl has a new treatment protocol which involves injecting stem cell into the injured area.  The influx of stem cells into the injured area helps create a healing cascade to start and promote tissue regeneration.

One of the reasons that injuries like mine last so long, is that the body cannot always regenerate certain types of connective tissue.

One of the reasons that injuries like mine last so long, is that the body cannot always regenerate certain types of connective tissue. This is where stem cell implantation gets exciting.  Stem cells are unspecialized cells that divide and mature into specialized cells.  When injected into an injured area and under the right conditions, they can be used to regrow or repair injured cells like the ones in my foot!

Well I told Dr. Pearl that I was interested in having the treatment done, and that I’d film it as well.  This first clip is Dr. Pearl’s diagnosis of my injury.

VIDEO1 (will open in a new window)

As you can see, I had this injury well over a year, and the area is still inflammed.  In this second Dr. Pearl goes over the treatment protocol and how it works.

VIDEO2 (will open in a new window)

At the time, I was one of his very first patients for this procedure.  That combined with having him insert a huge needle in my foot made very nervous.  About the injection.

The needle was really small, it barely hurt at all

The needle was really small, it barely hurt at all (way less than giving blood.)  So don’t worry about the procedure it’s not painful.  In the few days after the surgery, I had some noticeable swelling in my foot.  Hopefully that would turn to be a good thing (stem cells busy repairing.)   After 3 days all the swelling subsided and I had no noticeable pain from the procedure.

IMG_6782Did it work?

Partially.  I can honestly say that in the month since I’ve had the surgery my pain is down about 30%.  Dr. Pearl only wound up giving me half a dose, and even had it been a full dose, sometime a treatment may require two or three doses to work.  I do believe though if I repeated the procedure two or three more times, I’d likely see somewhere between 80%-100% recovery.  What’s particularly impressive is that the surgery is really simple, there were no real risk for complications, and it seems to be lasting.

Dr. Pearl also did the surgery on himself while I was there.  He has an injured Achilles.  According to the information he’s provided me about his recovery, he had almost an 80% recovery from half a dose (we wound up split
ting the one dose to save costs.)  To see his injection, as well as ultrasounds, etc.

YouTube video

MAT with Stem Cells

After getting the injection I really didn’t feel much of an improvement until I saw Jenn Schwartz and had some MAT done.  There definitely seemed to be a synergy between the two, and I don’t my recovery would have been as strong had I not gotten the therapy.

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