Two-time Super Bowl champion, five-time league MVP, 14 Pro Bowl appearances, Sports Illustrated’s 2013 Sportsman of the Year, leader in career touchdown passes and passing yards: Peyton Manning is one of, if not the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time.
After 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, he underwent four surgeries, including a spinal fusion, to treat a herniated disk in his neck. His sports injuries caused him to miss the entire 2011 season, and amidst doubts as to whether he would play again, he was released by the Colts.
Signed by the Denver Broncos, Manning obviously recovered from his neck injuries because he led the Broncs to the playoffs in 2012 and the Super Bowl the following year. And in 2015 at age 39 with 18 football seasons under his belt, he led the Broncos to another Super Bowl victory and retired on a high note. These statistics are absolutely remarkable considering that the average NFL career is 3.5 seasons and age of retirement is 28.
Sports injuries are the bane of professional athletes. Pro teams have stables of doctors and trainers and access to every available therapy to keep their players healthy and help them heal faster. You don’t have to face down 300-pound linemen, and injuries probably won’t affect your livelihood, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t tap into the healing arsenal of professional athletes. Let’s look at some of the therapies Peyton Manning has used during his long and illustrious career.
Stem Cells: The Ultimate Regenerative Therapy
In 2011, Manning flew to Germany for stem cell therapy for his ailing neck. Stem cells may be the most effective treatment for fast-tracking the healing process. When these rejuvenating cells, which are obtained from a patient’s own body, are injected into an injury site, they modulate inflammation, produce growth factors that stimulate tissue rebuilding, and expedite recovery.
Stem cell therapy has been enthusiastically embraced by pro athletes because it’s quick, safe, and requires little to no downtime or recovery period. It’s even easier today because you no longer have to go abroad for treatment.
Sports injuries aren’t the only conditions that benefit from this regenerative treatment. At Whitaker Wellness—an early adopter of stem cell therapy in the United States—we’ve also had good success treating patients with degenerative arthritis and neck and back pain. And when administered intravenously, stem cells migrate to areas of damage or dysfunction and work their “magic” on COPD, Parkinson’s, autoimmune diseases, and other common health concerns.
Oxygen Aids Sports Injuries
As part of his post-surgery rehab program, Manning was treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). HBOT is nothing new in professional sports. Many football, basketball, soccer, and hockey teams use it to speed healing of sports injuries and accelerate recovery after games and workouts, and a number of athletes even have hyperbaric units in their homes.
Breathing 100 percent oxygen in a pressurized chamber floods the body with oxygen. This influx reduces edema and swelling and mobilizes stem cells, which rev up the recovery process. HBOT also kills bacteria and staves off infection, and it boosts the production of fibroblasts and collagen for faster wound healing and tissue repair.
HBOT enhances nerve regeneration and brain health as well. The recent movie Concussion, starring Will Smith as forensic pathologist Bennet Omalu, MD, highlights the damage caused by repetitive blows to the head that affects many NFL players. As I wrote in the February 2015 newsletter, another NFL legend, quarterback Joe Namath, has created a foundation to bring attention to this problem and to the therapeutic benefits of HBOT after he experienced dramatic improvements in his own memory, cognitive function, and brain scans following treatment. HBOT may well be our best hope for dealing not only with head and spinal cord injuries but also stroke, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other degenerative brain disorders.
We’ve been using HBOT at Whitaker Wellness for nearly 20 years and have helped thousands of patients recover from sports injuries, surgeries, and brain damage, as well as diabetic ulcers, neuropathy, arterial disease, and dozens of other health challenges. This treatment really works.
EECP as a Regenerative Therapy
Manning also used enhanced external counterpulsation (EECP) to recover from his sports injuries. I was a little surprised by this. Whitaker Wellness was among the first clinics in the country to offer EECP back in 1996, and we now have seven EECP beds and treat up to 30 patients a day. So I’m very familiar with this therapy, which is primarily used for patients with cardiovascular disease.
But EECP is an excellent adjunct therapy in sports medicine. As Manning said in an interview, it’s “supposed to create blood flow in your muscles,” and that’s exactly what it does. EECP prompts the release of nitric oxide, which dilates the arteries, increases circulation, and triggers angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. Furthermore, each EECP treatment is like an endurance workout and provides many of the same benefits as intensive exercise.
Most of the research on EECP involves coronary artery disease and heart failure, and EECP has been shown to successfully relieve angina, reduce nitroglycerin requirements, strengthen the heart muscle, and increase exercise tolerance. In fact, it’s often referred to as a “natural bypass.” But as you can see, it’s a versatile therapy that can benefit a wide variety of patients—including those with sports injuries.
How-To Get Back In the Game
Hyperbaric oxygen, stem cells, EECP, oral and IV nutrients (which Peyton Manning also used), and other regenerative therapies such as platelet-rich plasma and prolotherapy are excellent treatments for enhancing recovery from sports injuries and other injuries, surgeries, and many chronic and degenerative conditions.
Locating these unique, healing therapies in your area may be tricky, but these websites are a good start: www.hyperbariclink.com, www.stemcellrevolution.com, www.eecp.com, and www.acam.org. Whitaker Wellness is one of the few clinics that has all of these treatments under one roof. To learn more, call (866) 944-8253 or fill out this form to receive a free complimentary consultation with one of our friendly and knowledgeable Patient Services Representatives.
Photo Credit: © Jwong526 | Dreamstime.com – Peyton Manning Photo
