More speculation: Todd Gurley has arthritis in his knee

[RamsOfCastamere]

Why can't they just add more cartilage/synovial fluid?

 

[coconut]

Why can't they just add more cartilage/synovial fluid?

There is cortisone injections but they don't last long and don't work at all for many people. Never heard of cartilage replacement. There was something like a silicone bushing for a synovial replacement but I haven't seen anything about it for a few years. I'm not familiar with anything that will allow an NFL RB to continue to play given the stresses involved. If anyone knows otherwise please let us know.

 

[Psycho_X]

There is cortisone injections but they don't last long and don't work at all for many people. Never heard of cartilage replacement. There was something like a silicone bushing for a synovial replacement but I haven't seen anything about it for a few years. I'm not familiar with anything that will allow an NFL RB to continue to play given the stresses involved. If anyone knows otherwise please let us know.

Yeah there really is no treatment to get someone back to being able to take the stress of playing football. Ultimately the only “cure” for severe arthritis in the knee is total knee replacement. And obviously you aren’t playing football or even running after that. Until that time arrives it’s just pain mitigation with a lot of stop gaps for temporary fixes. Hopefully his is very minor and either the new stem cell treatment or just therapy can squeeze another 5 or so years out of it before it becomes too much to handle.

 

[JackKirbyFan]

When I was in my twenties, I kneeled down to adjust the hue on our TV and let out an ear-piercing scream. Never felt such excruciating pain before. My mom said it could be arthritis and after an X-ray revealed that it was indeed arthritis, I have been on vicodin ever since. I take 1 and a half a day and that helps immensely and even play soccer with my granddaughter. But I could never imagine playing such a rough contact sport as football. There must be something the doctors can do for Todd. I wish him, the Rams franchise and Ram fans worldwide the best.

 

[NoCoNite]

So did they not give a physical before the gave him 15 mill a year?
It was a front loaded contract tho. Maybe they did it as a favor.

 

[XXXIVwin]

Why can't they just add more cartilage/synovial fluid?

Cartilage is freaking amazing— with 100 times LESS friction than ice-on-ice. Unfortunately, the human body cannot re-grow new cartilage.

Body can partially repair itself with a scar form of cartilage (which is the goal of micro-fracture surgery, to purposefully create this scar tissue).

Experimental procedures exist to “add” more cartilage, but sounds like micro fracture surgery is still the method of choice for now.

 

[TheTackle]

Cartilage is freaking amazing—sounds like micro fracture surgery is still the method of choice for now.

We can rebuild him

The truth is, with the 49ers and Cardinals in the basement and the Hags a shell, we just need a running back by committee approach, to give Todd all the time he needs - like Talib - so that he can work himself back for the playoffs

Bold prediction, saints are in cap trouble, Brees is another year older, Rams play Chicago at home and advance to another Super Bowl - this time winning

 

[coconut]

I don't think it is an issue since it is (or was?) very common in professional sports. I was taking it for a short time and it isn't performance enhancing like anabolic steroids or testosterone.

 

[Jacobarch]

so any news from the rams FO on this? They seem to not be concerned about this or at least they haven't come out and denied it. I dunno, the whole thing is weird.

 

[LesBaker]

@RamFan503 my stepmother had surgery on some of the bones in her feet and it made a HUGE difference. She had damage from decades of standing at a podium teaching. It wrecked her back too.

 

[RamFan503]

@RamFan503 my stepmother had surgery on some of the bones in her feet and it made a HUGE difference. She had damage from decades of standing at a podium teaching. It wrecked her back too.

It takes a lot for me to want to go the surgery route. My wife's boss' husband races down in Mexico a couple times a year. We're doing a little research to see if we can figure out just what the medication was and if it's available down there.

 

[JonRam99]

This just makes me sick. There's no one out there, either in F/A or the draft, who's even close to what we have with Gurley. Who knows what's going on with him, but I'm just hoping we can keep him going long enough for a lombardi. Ya CJ Anderson would be nice, but he was figured out quickly & we turned one-dimensional with him on the field. Todd gives us so many options, and his world-class speed at LB size are rare.
So many miles on those legs, too. Throw in some heavy lifting & workouts in the offseason, and one begins to wonder just how much more he can go, even at the young age of 24.

 

[TK42-RAM]

It takes a lot for me to want to go the surgery route. My wife's boss' husband races down in Mexico a couple times a year. We're doing a little research to see if we can figure out just what the medication was and if it's available down there.

Agree surgery is always a last resort.

There is also Platelet Rich Plasma therapy which may be an option in Todd's case.

PRP is plasma with many more platelets than what is typically found in blood. The concentration of platelets — and therefore the concentration of growth factors — can be 5 to 10 times greater than normal. The blood is drawn out of the patient - centrifuged to isolate the platelets and then injected into the knee.

There have been some good results for patients with osteoarthritis in the knee where pain has diminished significantly - not sure about how much regeneration of the cartilage occurs -- but it is possible as the reason why cartilage doesn't readily repair itself is due to it not having its own blood supply - so theoretically if you supply it with blood it can regenerate. Tiger Woods has had it as has Rafael Nadal.

Not sure they perform the injections in Mexico though...

 

[LesBaker]

It takes a lot for me to want to go the surgery route. My wife's boss' husband races down in Mexico a couple times a year. We're doing a little research to see if we can figure out just what the medication was and if it's available down there.

It was not a horrible recovery, but it wasn't outpatient and good to go a few days later either.

But I know how you feel about surgery.........I've never had any and don't want to.

 

[Mojo Ram]

We can rebuild him

The truth is, with the 49ers and Cardinals in the basement and the Hags a shell, we just need a running back by committee approach, to give Todd all the time he needs - like Talib - so that he can work himself back for the playoffs

Bold prediction, saints are in cap trouble, Brees is another year older, Rams play Chicago at home and advance to another Super Bowl - this time winning

I'm all in on THAT

 

[BonifayRam]

https://deadspin.com/this-latest-bit-of-todd-gurley-news-sounds-ominous-1832989223
This Latest Bit Of Todd Gurley News Sounds Ominous
By Dom Cosentino

After months of head-scratching about what might have been up with Rams running back Todd Gurley in the playoffs and the Super Bowl, there’s finally an answer: His knee is pretty messed up.

First, there was this from John Breech of CBS Sports:

The Rams currently have Gurley on an offseason regimen in hopes of getting him completely healthy for the 2019 season, but if that doesn’t work or if his knee regresses, the team may consider stem cell treatment for their star running back, according to a team source.

Yeesh. That doesn’t sound good. Then came this from Jeff Howe of The Athletic: Gah. That really doesn’t sound good.

Breech’s report goes on to quote Rams head coach Sean McVay, who didn’t confirm the stem cell regimen but did say the team was open to using “new methods” for Gurley’s recovery. “As far as the stem cells, that’s not something that’s been communicated to me, but there is a program,” McVay said, per Breech. McVay also said surgery would not be an option for Gurley this offseason.

Gurley sustained an ACL tear on his left knee in 2014, during his final year of college ball, and while he’s been wildly productive throughout four NFL seasons, he was limited toward the end of 2018. After sitting out the Rams’ final two regular season games because of a knee injury, he had a monster game in a playoff win against the Cowboys before getting just five touches in the NFC title game and 11 in the Super Bowl. Afterward, both Gurley and McVay insisted Gurley was fine—which, taking them at face value, made it fair to wonder why he sat for extended stretches of the team’s two most important games.

Stem-cell treatment involves injecting bone marrow extracted from a person’s pelvis into the affected area. The stem cells in the bone marrow work as an anti-inflammatory; the thinking is that they can also accelerate healing. A few years back, Sports Illustrated’s Jenny Vrentas explored the low-key proliferation of the procedure among NFL players. Vrentas’s reporting put the number of players using stem cells as of July 2014 in the hundreds—a group that then included Peyton Manning (neck) and Prince Amukamara (foot), plus running backs Chris Johnson and Knowshon Moreno. A year later running back Jamaal Charles also sought help from stem cells. Johnson, Moreno, and Charles were, like Gurley, dealing with the effects of previous ACL injuries.

For comparison’s sake, Moreno rushed for 1,038 yards and caught 60 passes after getting the treatment during the 2013 offseason, but Johnson and Charles never quite returned to their pre-stem-cell form. Both Johnson and Charles were also 29 when they got their stem-cell injections; Moreno was 26; Gurley will turn 25 in August. Granted, these aren’t large sample sizes, and the nature of each player’s injury was different. But Gurley’s usage will likely be affected—he has 1,229 touches since entering the league, far and and away the most in the NFL during that span, so he’s been integral to what the Rams do. Last week at the combine, GM Les Snead acknowledged that Gurley’s experienced some “wear and tear” and suggested the team would have to consider some kind of “Batman and Robin” combination to lighten Gurley’s workload. L.A. had brought in C.J. Anderson to sub for/spell Gurley at the end of last season, and even if Anderson were to walk in free agency, it seems all but certain the Rams would find another character (or two) to play the Robin part.

Last summer, Gurley signed a contract extension that, by next week, will have guaranteed him $34.5 million, plus another $10.5 million in injury guarantees—a good bit of security regardless of where things go from here.

 

[Ramlock]

I had a scope for torn meniscus at 51.

Doc said I had some arthritis in the knee then and that was 8 years ago.

He put me on Celebrex and it caused MAJOR heartburn and I quit it and went back to Ibuprofen.

My back and hip are worse than my knee.

Count me in the group that is skeptical of a NE writer knowing diddly about TG’s knee. Unless the source was Sony Michel dropping some news on his ex UGA teammate.

I’ll wait for Vinny or someone that covers the Rams before I believe this report.

Having thought about it, my Cardiologist wouldn't let me take Celebrex. They put me on Meloxicam and that tore up my stomach; lots of heartburn.

I tolerate Ibuprofen a lot better.

I don't have a lot of pain in that knee from the Arthritis but I'm not carrying 25 times against the Cowboys either.

I hope like hell he gets better. #30 is awesome.

 

[ReekofRams]

https://deadspin.com/this-latest-bit-of-todd-gurley-news-sounds-ominous-1832989223
This Latest Bit Of Todd Gurley News Sounds Ominous
By Dom Cosentino

After months of head-scratching about what might have been up with Rams running back Todd Gurley in the playoffs and the Super Bowl, there’s finally an answer: His knee is pretty messed up.

First, there was this from John Breech of CBS Sports:

The Rams currently have Gurley on an offseason regimen in hopes of getting him completely healthy for the 2019 season, but if that doesn’t work or if his knee regresses, the team may consider stem cell treatment for their star running back, according to a team source.

Yeesh. That doesn’t sound good. Then came this from Jeff Howe of The Athletic: Gah. That really doesn’t sound good.

Breech’s report goes on to quote Rams head coach Sean McVay, who didn’t confirm the stem cell regimen but did say the team was open to using “new methods” for Gurley’s recovery. “As far as the stem cells, that’s not something that’s been communicated to me, but there is a program,” McVay said, per Breech. McVay also said surgery would not be an option for Gurley this offseason.

Gurley sustained an ACL tear on his left knee in 2014, during his final year of college ball, and while he’s been wildly productive throughout four NFL seasons, he was limited toward the end of 2018. After sitting out the Rams’ final two regular season games because of a knee injury, he had a monster game in a playoff win against the Cowboys before getting just five touches in the NFC title game and 11 in the Super Bowl. Afterward, both Gurley and McVay insisted Gurley was fine—which, taking them at face value, made it fair to wonder why he sat for extended stretches of the team’s two most important games.

Stem-cell treatment involves injecting bone marrow extracted from a person’s pelvis into the affected area. The stem cells in the bone marrow work as an anti-inflammatory; the thinking is that they can also accelerate healing. A few years back, Sports Illustrated’s Jenny Vrentas explored the low-key proliferation of the procedure among NFL players. Vrentas’s reporting put the number of players using stem cells as of July 2014 in the hundreds—a group that then included Peyton Manning (neck) and Prince Amukamara (foot), plus running backs Chris Johnson and Knowshon Moreno. A year later running back Jamaal Charles also sought help from stem cells. Johnson, Moreno, and Charles were, like Gurley, dealing with the effects of previous ACL injuries.

For comparison’s sake, Moreno rushed for 1,038 yards and caught 60 passes after getting the treatment during the 2013 offseason, but Johnson and Charles never quite returned to their pre-stem-cell form. Both Johnson and Charles were also 29 when they got their stem-cell injections; Moreno was 26; Gurley will turn 25 in August. Granted, these aren’t large sample sizes, and the nature of each player’s injury was different. But Gurley’s usage will likely be affected—he has 1,229 touches since entering the league, far and and away the most in the NFL during that span, so he’s been integral to what the Rams do. Last week at the combine, GM Les Snead acknowledged that Gurley’s experienced some “wear and tear” and suggested the team would have to consider some kind of “Batman and Robin” combination to lighten Gurley’s workload. L.A. had brought in C.J. Anderson to sub for/spell Gurley at the end of last season, and even if Anderson were to walk in free agency, it seems all but certain the Rams would find another character (or two) to play the Robin part.

Last summer, Gurley signed a contract extension that, by next week, will have guaranteed him $34.5 million, plus another $10.5 million in injury guarantees—a good bit of security regardless of where things go from here.

Still no quotes from someone of authority. An article of supposition.