Biologics in Treating Tendinopathies: Perception Versus Truth in the Eyes of College-Level Athletes

Biological therapies are substances made from living organisms used to treat disease or injury. Common biologic therapies today include platelet rich plasma injections (PRP), stem cell therapy, and growth factor therapy. Ever since their emergence just over a decade ago, biological treatments have been used to treat a variety of conditions including tendonitis. Tendonitis commonly affects athletes of all levels and is the inflammation or irritation of a tendon that leads to pain and tenderness. Despite the potential promise of biological treatments in treating persistent injuries like tendonitis, there is not a consensus in the scientific community on their effectiveness in treating non-surgical injuries. However, many athletes still seek these forms of treatment. Currently, there are many unknowns regarding how up and coming high-level athletes perceive biologics, if they understand what biologics are, how they’re learning about biologics, and what type of injuries they believe should warrant biologics treatment. Here we show that the majority of high-level collegiate athletes at Arizona State University (ASU) know what biological therapies are, but do not possess accurate information about their effectiveness and medical use. We found through a survey sent out to the student athletes at ASU that while athletes are familiar with PRP and stem cell injections, they are primarily learning about them from potentially unreliable sources such as social media, friends, and family. Further, student athletes falsely perceive biologics are commonly used in physician treatment protocols for persistent tendonitis and are recommended to athletes months earlier than in reality. Our results demonstrate that high-level collegiate athletes do have a misperception on the effectiveness of biological treatments and that further education is needed for athletes about the truth and myths of biologics.