Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie is reportedly travelling to Serbia to have his injured leg treated with placental fluid
The Holland forward damaged the ligaments in his right ankle during Saturday’s friendly against Italy and is likely to be out of action for six weeks according to Arsenal FC. Van Persie has since returned to London to continue with rehabilitation but has subsequently received consent from Arsenal FC to fly to Serbia to receive alternative treatment. Aiming to recover in a month, Van Persie will meet with female doctor Marijana Kovacevic who previously treated an injury of Danko Lazovic (PSV Eindhoven midfielder). According to Van Persie, Lazovic has been vague about Kovacevic’s methods but claims that treatment involves massage using fluid from a placenta – horse placenta according to sources. Placentas are thought to contain proteins that when rubbed into the skin will reach the damaged ligaments and have a healing effect.
Van Persie’s actions have once again highlighted the controversial topic of placentophagy – in layman’s terms ‘afterbirth consumption’. Placenta has been used for its medicinal properties in many areas worldwide including China and Japan. In Western society, those chowing down on placenta are usually hippy moms dressed in hemp but the trend is spreading and research is progressing.
With regards to horse placenta, it is in fact more commonly used than one might think. American cosmetics company EMK offers dozens of beauty products containing placenta as a chief ingredient, including eye patches, face cream and cleansers. And in Japan the soft drink Placenta-Pro contains 30,000mg of 100% undiluted horse-origin placenta, to give you “luxuriantly beautiful skin” and relief from all manner of ailments, including headaches, canker sores, knee pain and sensitivity to cold.
Van Persie is reported to have said: “I’m going to give it a try. It can’t do any harm and if it helps, it helps.” As to the slightly dubious nature of what category of placenta fluid will be rubbed into the footballer’s skin – human or horse – and the resulting ethical issues, the man is not ingesting it – as far as we know.
Sources:
Mirrorfootball.co.uk
HorseandHound.co.uk
SkyNews
Guardian.co.uk
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