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Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez have a few things in common. Both are professional athletes who play for two of the most popular teams in their sport (Lakers and Yankees) and in the biggest markets in the country (LA and NY). They are two athletes people love to hate, but they seem to use the negativity as fuel. And they both were playing through devastating knee injuries last season.
Both men had troublesome right knees but Kobe was the one who got the new treatment done first and gave A-Rod the number to the doctor.
Arthritic joints in the knee caused Kobe constant pain last year. He had three surgeries up to that point and the pain was getting worse. Basketball fans around the league were ready to count him out, and most of them wished he would retire because they’re tired of him dominating their favorite team and players. They were ready to call the movers and get him out of LA and out of the league.
Kobe, being the ultimate competitor that he is, wasn’t having that.
After doing research on a procedure called Orthokine, he decided he was ready to travel to Duesseldorf, Germany. The surgery is detailed and isn’t done here in the U.S. To put it simply, doctors inject “plasma rich platelets” into the affected area to stimulate the joints recovery.
Blood was taken from Kobe and swirled at high speeds to decompose it back to its base plasma form. After that, the blood is injected back into the knee and then the magic happens. Kobe has said that the procedure has his knee at 95 percent, and that it hasn’t felt that good in years.
A-Rod got the number to Dr. Peter Wehling from Kobe and he spoke with the Yankees to get the team’s approval to go ahead with the treatment. Dr. Wehling gave the Yanks a signed statement verifying that no banned substances are used in the procedure because A-Rod has already gone through his share of problems with that.
The Yanks assigned team physician Christopher Ahmad to spend time conducting his own research on the process and exactly what happens during it before making a final decision. Last season A-Rod had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair his torn meniscus. Afterwards, he missed six weeks and had his share of lingering pain and issues.
The best thing about this procedure is that it’s not a surgery. The athletes aren’t forced to miss time recovering and rehabbing. A-Rod was in Germany from Dec. 5-9 to have the work done, and when he got back to the States, he was able to start his training regimen again almost immediately.
As the countdown for spring training begins, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said there has been no setbacks for A-Rod and that the superstar third basemen is 100 percent and ready to get started.
This procedure will definitely grow in popularity with the endorsement of athletes like Kobe and A-Rod. More doctors around the world will be researching and learning how to perform it. It could be a major step forward in sports and rehabilitation medicine.
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