Over the past decade, the demand for performance from elite athletes has increased significantly. This demand has led to more injuries, in turn increasing the demand for faster recovery times after surgery or after an acute injury among these high-performance athletes. Doctors have discovered what they believe to be a useful solution to the problem: platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections. These injections must be administered directly into the athlete's injured tendon. PRP is a process that essentially separates your blood through the bone marrow, leaving some extremely strong. However, the reasons for this strength are due to the fact that it comes from the patient's own stem cells, which brings non-positive attention to this new age treatment. Because this stronger, platelet-rich plasma contains your own IGF-1, which is a growth factor that helps you heal. The platelet-rich portion of the blood can be reinjected back into the body directly to the site of injury, with the aim of speeding up recovery time. It remains unclear whether PRP injections work well enough to become a standard treatment method and whether this treatment is morally acceptable. Tendon disorders and injuries account for 30 to 50% of all activity-related injuries; Chronic degenerative tendon disorders (tendinopathy) are common and difficult to treat (Vos 144). PRP releases growth factor into degenerating tendons while intentionally inflaming your muscles and tendons, to promote healing. In an experiment conducted by Dr. Vos and colleagues, they examined whether a PRP injection would actually improve the outcome of chronic midsection Achilles tendinopathy. The control group received a placebo while the others received PRP injections. To conclusion...... middle of paper ......- 08.08.11 - SI Vault. " SportsIllustrated.com. Breaking news, real-time scores and daily analysis from Sports Illustrated, August 9, 2011. Web. November 10, 2011. .Peoria. "Seattle Mariners' Cliff Lee Receiving Plasma Injection Therapy - ESPN." ESPN .com: The World's Sports Leader, 2010. Web., & Weir MBBS, A. “Platelet-rich plasma injection for chronic Achilles tendinopathy: a randomized controlled trial” JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical. Association 303.2 (2010): 144-49. “Release of platelet-rich plasma promotes differentiation of tendon stem cells into active tenocytes.” 88.12 (2010) : 2477-486..