Blanchard Valley Health System

By Rafid Fadul, MD
Pulmonology & Critical Care Medicine

Last week the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guidelines for COVID-19 recommendations. This is the first major update since the early days of the pandemic, and it signals an evolution in both the disease and our responses to it.

By Michael Stump, MD
Blanchard Valley Orthopedics & Sports Medicine

Many people suffer from chronic musculoskeletal conditions, such as tendinitis and osteoarthritis. While conservative treatments such as anti-inflammatory medications and rehabilitation can be effective in treating these conditions, sometimes they do not work. The next step in treatment of these conditions is often corticosteroid injections. These will often relieve symptoms quickly, but often do not have lasting results beyond six to eight weeks. In the past, if these conservative treatments were not effective, the next option was typically surgery.  However, today, there is a new treatment available that research has shown to be effective in treating chronic musculoskeletal conditions: platelet-rich plasma (PRP) that may be able to avoid or delay surgery and many of these conditions.