View topic - Ward's Knee

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Colin Dunlap, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, reported that Pittsburgh Steelers WR Hines Ward (knee) underwent a new therapy on his knee called Autologous Conditioned Plasma to help rehab his knee in order to play in Super Bowl XLIII. The process involved taking blood out of Ward's knee, working on the blood and re-injecting it into the knee. "When you injure yourself, it promotes a cascade of events that eventually leads to healing. But, with ACP, you take some of your own blood out, centrifuge the blood into a much smaller and concentrated amount and take layers that have the platelets and reinject them into the injured area. You might take out 20 or 30 ccs, treat it, and then inject back a very nutrient-rich 3 or 4 ccs," said Dr. Neal ElAttrache, an associate and partner of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles. The NFL said the procedure did not violate the league's drug policy.