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Springboro High star cheerleader flies again thanks to Beacon Ortho team

Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
Lauren Strahota battled through severe hip pain for years, finally turning to the Beacon team for help as she competes as a national champion with college aspirations.

Lauren Strahota is graduating from Springboro High School in 2023. She is seventeen years old and has been experiencing hip pain for more than two years. Here is her story.

Since Strahota left all-star cheerleading and is now a member of the National Champion Springboro High School cheerleading team, you might think her pain was caused by “flying” (to the inexperienced eye, that’s the one being thrown in the air by her teammates). However, being a flyer is not so reactive. It is a highly competitive and fully trained position for which Strahota had been preparing for more than a decade.

When the pain began in 2020, she saw Dr. Alberto Maldonado, primary care sports medicine specialist at Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Sharonville. “Initially, I examined her to rule out the most basic things,” he said. “An MRI helped us identify and diagnose a cartilage problem.” They tried physical therapy and steroid injections into the hip, but the pain was not getting better. In fact, it was getting worse. She had pushed through other medical barriers in her young life (like her juvenile arthritis and significant scoliosis), but the hip pain was becoming awful. At that point, Dr. Maldonado referred her to a surgeon. That surgery might keep her from competing.

“As any parent will tell you, it’s hard to watch your child struggle,” said Leigh Wells, Strahota’s mother. “But when you add the fact that she was in pain … it was almost unbearable.” The family wanted to help her become pain-free but wondered if it was possible to do that and empower her to continue competing in the sport she loved.

Strahota’s pain was now affecting her daily life, not just cheerleading. She couldn’t get comfortable while sitting, standing or lying down. How could she fly? Would surgery help her return to full pain-free mobility? Would the required recovery time and PT sideline her during the critical junior and senior seasons? Would surgery even lessen the pain? Were there any other options?

So many questions.

Dr. Maldonado then explained another possible answer, orthobiologics. So, by sharing the option, the family could learn and decide about using BMAC (Bone Marrow Aspiration Concentrated) for Strahota’s specific troubles.

Strahota made a full come-back to her competitive cheering career with no issues related to her hip.

As the name BMAC suggests, a physician extracts the patient’s bone marrow cells, aspirates them and then injects the healthy concentrated cells back into that same patient. The goal is that BMAC might let a person’s lesion heal with the help of their own cells. Dr. Maldonado also shared a technique that uses platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Essentially, he would draw blood, remove its platelets and then re-inject those directly back into the patient, thus increasing the percentage of platelets in the affected area, providing healing factors to an area that was lacking or had poor supply.

The whole process takes about two to three weeks, from initial marrow withdrawal to the platelets being re-injected. For the next two months, the patient rests from full activity but follows an at-home protocol of stretching to keep the joints moving. After that, Strahota would begin Physical Therapy at Beacon to get back into competition form before returning to full competition. In Strahota’s case, that was in time for her junior year.

The family decided that this schedule and course of treatment made sense, even though it was not covered by insurance.

Now, a senior competing for SHS, she hopes to compete in college. “There are some days when it is a little stiff or sore,” Strahota said. “But I am able to loosen up and feel really good for my next workout.” Strahota made a full come-back to her competitive cheering career with no issues related to her hip. She made her team for the senior season and is now looking forward to a memorable year.

Dr. Maldonado explained that regenerative medicine uses a patient’s own cells to moderate inflammation and pain and ultimately regenerate, if possible. Although relatively newer to other orthopedic treatments, it has been proven effective for physicians at Beacon.

“After the surgeon referred Lauren back to us, we talked about non-surgical ways to address her pain and inflammation,” said Dr. Maldonado. “In her case, the course of treatment was a success because she no longer suffers from pain and inflammation and has returned to competition.”

Lauren Strahota flies again.

Learn more about PRP and the team at Beacon Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine online.

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