Health & Fitness
What’s Going on with Urlacher? What is Regenokine?
There has been speculations that Brian Urlacher had a new procedure to fix his knee. Find out more about Regenokine.
There has been a lot of speculation about the treatment for Brian Urlacher’s knee injury. I recently talked to the Chicago Sun-Times about a new treatment that people are speculating he has tried to repair his knee called Rengenokine.
We don’t know if he had the treatment, but what we are finding is that many professional athletes are looking for alternative treatments to be able to stay active in their sport longer.
During the Regenokine treatment blood is extracted. That blood is then separated into blood cells and plasma. The yellowish plasma serum is then injected back into the patient because it contains chemicals that fight inflammation and proteins that may help speed healing.
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This sounds wonderful, but there has been a lot of conflicting evidence about whether this treatment really works. Also, it isn’t effective for all people or all injuries and how long the effects last are variable.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved this treatment here in the states. They are very picky about what procedures they approve. The other concern is that these injections are extremely expensive costing up to as much as $10,000.
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Athletes like Urlacher are highly paid athletes who often play with injuries that would make most us sit on the sidelines. What is most important for him right now is patience- if he tries to return to play too soon he’s risking re-injury and a return visit to the doctor’s office.
Loyola University Health System sports medicine physicians are dedicated to enhancing sports performance and getting people back in the game. Each season an LUHS sports medicine expert from our facility in Burr Ridge will offer tips to keep you safe and active. Dr. Pietro Tonino, MD, is the director of the Sports Medicine program for Loyola University Health System and is a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. He has extensive experience in the evaluation and treatment of ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries both in male and female athletes and prevention strategies for ACL injuries.
