Yup,
It's only been 3 years or so.
After the Tennis Elbow surgery, things went badly... it cam back with a vengeance and rather than have further surgery, I was offered a place on a clinical trial for PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injections in to the tendon... Patient #39 at your service!
The injections have been, without doubt, miraculous. It's taken me four or five rounds - which is longer then the vast majority of recipients, but I seem to be winning.
They take 100ml of blood, freak it out in a centrifuge, then (using ultrasound) inject it in to the damaged tissue. I know, I know, it sounds hideous. And the first one saw me reaching for the morphine, for sure! But with some tweaks and trial and error, the remarkable man who was willing to let me be a guinea pig for his trial has worked marvels.
The Tennis Elbow is nearly gone, and with a few more months of careful physio, I hope to have it beat completely. So what's different now?
Well because the injections are so incredibly effective initially, it has allowed me to do better more focused physio and strengthen the tendon, and surrounding structure. This means that less strain is put on the damaged tendon and every time it recurs, it gets less severe. I'm at a point now - 6 months from the last round of injections - where I'm actually able to play banjo again for more than 4 or 5 minutes without excruciating pain!
So, I'm optimistic that after just the 5 years, I may be Tennis Elbow free. That means I'm back battering hell out of my poor banjo's. And that means I'm back on here, reconnecting with a lot of awesome people whom I really haven't spoken to in a loooong time!
Did I miss anything ;) ?
2 comments on “Guess who's back... again...”
Texasbanjo Says:
Thursday, March 23, 2017 @11:09:18 AM
Welcome back. Hope you are cured and can stay playing banjo for as long as you wish.
rinemb Says:
Friday, March 24, 2017 @7:07:08 AM
Keep us posted. I get bad bouts of tennis elbow, blacksmiths elbow, and both. No fun, for sure. Brad
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