Sprechen sie back pain? Couples discusses his radical treatment in Germany

You’d never know it from his laconic demeanor, but Fred Couples suffers from excruciating back pain. By the end of last season, the discomfort was so great that he could barely sleep at night. In Houston this week to defend his title at the Insperity Championship, the Presidents Cup captain revealed his latest attempt at relief, an experimental procedure that isn’t approved in the United States.

Steve Campbell at the Houston Chronicle has the details:

Desperate times drove Couples to make the trek to Dusseldorf, Germany, for a treatment known as Orthokine therapy. Developed by orthopedic surgeon Peter Wehling and molecular biologist Julio Reinecke, the procedure involves using proteins derived from the patient’s blood as medication. During a five-day regimen, Couples made six office visits.

“Takes 20 minutes for this procedure every day, and he talks to you for 10 minutes, and you go on your way,” Couples said.

One of the patients who preceded Couples by a week, he said, was Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who was treating an arthritic right knee. Fellow golfer Vijay Singh went in for back treatment a few days after Couples and offered this testimonial: “It’s worked miracles.” Among the other reported patients of Wehling are former Rockets All-Star Tracy McGrady and Pope John Paul II.

“I felt better after seeing this guy than I felt when I was 30,” Couples said. “It was bizarre.”
Read more: http://blogs.golf.com/presstent/2011/10/the-late-seve-ballesteros-had-movie-star-like-charisma-so-its-fitting-that-his-story-could-soon-be-coming-to-the-silver-sc.html#ixzz1aOoKqtTx