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Associated Press |
After 24 hours of silence from the Nationals organization, leading to plenty of speculation around the baseball world about Harper's status, head athletic trainer Lee Kuntz told reporters in Colorado this evening what took place yesterday during Harper's visit to Andrews' clinic in Pensacola, Fla.
Kuntz told reporters Harper received both a cortisone shot and a PRP injection in the swollen bursa sac of his left knee, though he did not need to have the sac surgically removed. Andrews concurred with the Nationals' initial diagnosis of bursitis, a condition that has plagued the 20-year-old since he crashed into the right-field wall May 13 at Dodger Stadium.
Harper returned to play in nine games over the next two weeks but clearly was hampered, going 7-for-31 (though he did homer twice). He hasn't played since May 26, when he had to be removed from the Nationals' game against the Phillies after aggravating the knee on a pair of headfirst slides. Harper was placed on the 15-day disabled list June 1, retroactive to his last game appearance, making him eligible to return on June 16.
To this point, though, Harper hasn't been able to get through baseball activities without his knee swelling up again, prompting his trip to Pensacola yesterday to get a second opinion from Andrews. The results of that exam were kept under close wraps by the Nationals, but a source close to Harper said earlier today he didn't undergo any surgical procedure and that it would be "wrong to draw any conclusions" from a photo that appeared on Twitter of the outfielder wearing a heavy knee brace in the Atlanta airport on his way back from Pensacola.
15 comments:
Why was is so secret just wondering
Cortisone shot at age 20? The way that stuff breaks down joints, he'll have arthritic knees by the time he's 30. This had better be a one-time thing, but....
That's just a bit hyperbolic. If there's no structural damage in the knee, there's really no risk to doing a cortisone shot as long as it's not excessive.
Also it is not a repeated shot etc.
Interesting. What would the time frame for recovery have been if they had just done the surgery today instead?
A few weeks at least. More likely the All Star Break.
Dan Haden!
Haren
Reposting a link about bursae surgery that Theo provided earlier. Recovery from the surgery is 6-8 weeks, and "[s]urgery is rarely done as only a small number of patients actually benefit from it." Very glad Bryce came to his senses and had the cortisone shot. Perhaps he trusts Dr. Andrews more than the Nats' medical staff.
It's amusing to me that I (a 43-year old slightly overweight runner/triathlete) also had a PRP injection (makes sense, I should have the same level of sports medicine care as Bryce). Based on that experience, I would NOT worry about the knee brace and bandage. My foot looked similarly braced after my injections.
PRP (platelet rich plasma) never seems to work. Remember Morse's lat? It's voodoo BS. Unfortunately, the only thing that will work is tincture of time. Since Harper is the only true bright spot of our offence, this season is nearly burnt toast. I just hope Rizzo doesn' make any stupid trade in a vain attempt to salvage this wreck of a team and further weaken the organization. Throw up the white flag and ride it out with this putrid team. There is a bright future for this team, just not this year.
D'G.....good post.
Voodoo? ... Putrid? ... Clueless
But agree ... keep the course ... most of the pieces are in place for next few years
This season, average team with bad voodoo
We mules have lots of experience with "horse doctors" (as orthopaedists are affectionately known within the medical profession).
A sound general principle in orthopaedics is to avoid surgery; especially the removal of infrastructure (cartilage, bursa sac, sesamoid bone, etc.) whenever possible, as such proceedures generally shorten the useful life of the affected body part (joint, usually).
In high-end professional sports, such an axiom must be weighed against the "playing imperative",a team's need for the early return of an injured player.
Mule is in complete agreement with the opinion and treatment course advocated both by the Nationals' in-house group and Dr. Andrews. Maintaining the intrinsic structural integrity of Harper's knee (i.e. non-surgical management), while promoting natural healing with low-dose cortisone (excessive inflammation can retard healing and actually damage infrastructure) and Platelet-rich Plasma is the wisest course, and represents good "Mule-sense" (not "horse-sense";
we mules are much smarter than horses).
D'Gourds
POTD
I am having nightmare visions of a young Bill Walton in 1978 putting his career in the medical staff of the Portland trail Blazers....I pray and hope this does not happen to Bryce
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