An ultramarathon runner’s hamstring pain
Josh Irvan of Downington, Pennsylvania, is a very active person. On top of teaching art at a military school and spending time with his wife and two daughters, he is an avid runner.
Irvan is not your average jogger though; he is a serious participant in a multitude of long-distance endurance races, including half and full marathons, ultramarathons, and multi-day races. He’s run the Boston and New York City Marathons, placed third in a 6-day race covering 465 miles, and in 2015 placed fourth in the United States National 24-Hour Championships by running 128.5 miles in one day.
With such a physically intensive lifestyle, an injury can have a serious impact on daily life. Over his years of running, Irvan had sustained a number of injuries, but the worst was a tear in his right hamstring. Initially, he was treated with an injection of platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) into the site, which healed the injury but left him with a buildup of scar tissue. “It was really painful after the site healed,” Irvan remembers. “I felt like it just kept pulling. It was very annoying and distracting while driving, doing activities, even sitting for long amounts of time.”
Looking for some kind of relief, Irvan sought help from sports medicine practitioner Dr. Kevin Duprey, who recommended TenJet as a possible solution. Prior to the procedure, Irvan was given a local anesthetic to eliminate any discomfort. With only a small 2mm incision the TenJet needle was guided toward the pathologic tissue under ultrasound imaging. Once in position, TenJet delivers a thin high-speed jet of saline used to remove the pain-inducing scar tissue. During the procedure, Irvan recalled being in no pain and was able to return home immediately with only a few steri-strips placed on the incision site.
Irvan was amazed at how quickly he noticed the results. Within a day a full range of flexibility had returned to his right side – even greater than his non-injured left side, he felt. Dr. Duprey and Irvan’s wife, a physical therapist, worked on the site a bit, but there was such a fast recovery of his mobility that there was hardly any need for therapy. Irvan says he didn’t even need any pain medications following the procedure. “It felt like a miracle.”
Today, nine months after the procedure, Irvan says he is running like a champ again. The pain has been reduced to the point where it’s almost a non-issue. He’s planning on competing at the national championships again at the end of the year. Half-jokingly and half-serious, he says he’s considering getting his uninjured side done as well. “It’s almost like a tune-up.”
With the fast, profound results and lack of downtime or side effects (“unless you count better mobility and less pain as a side effect,” he says), Irvan feels that TenJet technology is part of the beginning of the future of in-and-out medicine. “It’s something top-level athletes should look into to extend their careers,” he says. As an over 40-year-old ultramarathon runner, he would know.