He completed his training at Washington University and the University of Pennsylvania, and completed a sports medicine fellowship in 1986. He is currently a part owner of the National Hockey League Florida Panthers and has been the team physician for the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and St. Louis Blues. He has been a consulting physician for UCLA Track & Field and has covered four Olympic Games, as well as seven Track & Field World Championships.
Dr. Lehman is currently on the Board of Directors of the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Youth Foundation, the medical director of Webster Surgery Center and the medical director of the U.S. Center for Sports Medicine. He is on the Board of Governors for the National Hockey League and is on the St. Louis Sports Commission. His practice encompasses taking care of professional athletes at all levels and all sports, as well as Division I college athletes.
I have heard so many people talk about PRP. Dr. Rick, what is PRP, what does it treat and is it safe?
— Calvin Drake, University City Mo.
Calvin, PRP stands for Platelet-Rich Plasma. To produce PRP, we take a small amount of your blood, place it in a centriguge and take out the plasma that contain platelets rich in growth factors that help wound healing, tissue remodeling and faster tissue growth.
In short, it allows injuries to heal faster and return athletes to the field and court much faster.
Common injuries treated with PRP include tennis elbow, ACL injuries, muscle pulls (hamstring, calf), achilles tendon injuries and plantar fasciitis. Many, many sports injuries can be treated with PRP and because we are using your blood and injecting it back into you, it is totally safe.
PRP is state of the art medicine and you will be hearing about pro athletes, college athletes and amatuer athletes being treated with this technology.
I am getting ready for baseball season to start. I am a college walk-on and usually play the outfield. What do I need to concentrate on for the next 3 weeks?
— Mike LaBelle, Washington Mo.
In preparing for spring training and the upcoming baseball season there are 3 principles.
- Rotator cuff and upper body strength. Mike, you need a 1. ballistic upper body strength program that includes rotator cuff, posterior shoulder and upper back excercises. These need to be done in a high intensity, short duration mode once you have established your base. They need to progress to an interval throwing program to get ready for the repetition of practice.
- Endurance training. This can be a stationary bicycle or a 2. progressive running program or a cross-training program including an elliptical/running/interval program.
It is very important to have a strong cardio base and be ready for the base running and endurance workouts. - Midtrunk/core training will improve the rotation in your swing 3. and allow you to rotate on the ball faster.
Midtrunk exercises are crucial for improving your hitting, but also allow you to plant and rotate on long throws from the outfield. CORE IS KING.
In general maintain your nutrition and keep your BMI under control. We will discuss healthy diet habits, the correct foods and proper hydration in “Ask Dr. Rick” and we welcome your questions.