Athletes and arthritis are no match for Coastal Orthopedics surgeon, Dr. Steven Schafer

Coastal Orthopedics’ Dr. Steven Schafer admits that sometimes people associate surgeons with a not-too-positive saying: “If you have a hammer, then you’re going to use it.”

But he’s says the saying just isn’t true. Some of his most innovative work as an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist for Coastal Orthopedics doesn’t involve patients “going under the knife” at all.

Dr. Schafer is one of the few orthopedic surgeons in Manatee County who offers platelet-rich plasma treatment, also known as PRP. He’s spearheading both the PRP and stem cell therapy efforts at Coastal Orthopedics.

While Dr. Schafer most frequently treats patients’ knees and shoulders, PRP and stem cell therapy offer a non-surgical alternative for a variety of ailments, particularly mild-to-moderate arthritis.

Patients appreciate that these quick procedures can be done in the office or a surgery center. For PRP treatments, the process takes 10 to 15 minutes and is usually performed in the office. Most stem cell therapy patients prefer to be sedated, so the nearly 30-minute procedure is often done in a surgery center.

“Studies are showing more success rates for PRP,” Dr. Schafer said. “Some patients come looking for it.”

Athletes are turning to PRP and stem cell therapy as well, and Dr. Schafer treats athletes from several sports teams in the area, including students from the nearby IMG Academy and Southeast High School.

As a sports medicine physician for U.S. Soccer, he recently traveled to Brazil for two weeks with the Under-23 Men’s National Team for two match-ups against the country. He’s been to South Korea with the Women’s National Team, too, and treated the Under-17 Men’s National Team.

“Working with sports teams and athletes is my favorite part of the job,” Dr. Schafer said. “They are a motivated group of people – they all want to get better.”

For the average weekend athlete, he suggests some simple prevention:

“You shouldn’t be sitting down and then sprinting to first base as quickly as you can. Warming up before you play is much more important than stretching.”

He says he also sees a fair amount of overuse injuries, since the mild Florida weather allows people to play sports outside all year.

“Instead of playing the same sport throughout the year, remember to cross-train and play something else so you can rest different parts of your body.”