Thread: Anyone tried Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy?

Hmmmm... interesting.

Where is the bicep tendon tear? More like a SLAP tear right at the head of the Humerus?

I am interested to see your results. did you ever have an MRI-a?

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

Where is the bicep tendon tear? More like a SLAP tear right at the head of the Humerus?

I am interested to see your results. did you ever have an MRI-a?

Yes I had an MRI last week. The Doc used laymans terms and a plastic shoulder joint to show me the bicep tear where it connected near the socket. The RC tear was visible even to me on the films. The fluoroscope shot confirmed the needle nailed the right spot. I had done a lot of reading about PRP and also Proliferation Therapy. Both could be a huge help to people in this sport. I'll probably get a booster in six weeks. The NYT article has the cost inflated. My procedure even with HGH was around $800 which included everything

So Basically an RC tear and a SLAP lesion.

Where did he inject the PRP?

Originally Posted by IainDaniel

So Basically an RC tear and a SLAP lesion.

Where did he inject the PRP?

Directly into the shallow concavity beneath the RC tear. The fluoroscope is key to getting it right and not all who offer PRP injections use one. Just about any Orthopod should be able to do it because everything needed comes in a complete PRP kit, minus centrifuge.

so it will basically do nothing for the SLAP lesion?

I can put you in touch with the doctor if you like, and will if you're genuinely interested. The term SLAP tear was not used but sounds as if you might have one. Judging from what I saw on the fluoroscope the injuries are in such tight proximity I can't imagine them both not benefiting if there are, indeed, any benefits to be had.

it must be something to help heal as rich blood clotting factor. its just common sense now that i knew the whole name. good job T.

No that is ok. It just interests me, after having to deal with shoulder issues for 10+ years and finally having my Labrum surgically repaired a couple of years ago.

Just inquiries into your personal experience and how things will work.

I understand. The irksome thing is you and thousands of others might have benefitted because PRP benefits were known and technology available a decade ago, yet insurance industry still does not cover it. In a PM Unclem correctly pointed out that a shoulder injury can be the end of bodybuilding hobbyist or pro which sucks. I'd feel better if someone here had tried it. Shoulder hurts like a bitch now but will report back here weekly if it might help. I also got iPhone photos of the whole process. The procedure is so damn simple that it crossed my mind that some people here already have the knowledge and skills to do it themselves.

The PRP injection site was between the bicep ligament and bone, into the concave area beneath the rotator cuff. A total of 6 CCs of fluid (PRP and HGH) was injected, so I suspect the area was bathed effectively.

Yesterday on HPR's Body Show they had a surgeon who is a shoulder specialist who said that most rotator cuff injuries really don't need surgery, he was offering to email anyone who requested it a set of stretching exercises as a way to keep the tightness from developing. He said that most of the injuries shouldn't cause pain in itself, it's the period of babying that shoulder by people who normally are very active that cause the tightness to set in and that it's the tightness that causes the pain....

Originally Posted by 2tomlinson

I understand. The irksome thing is you and thousands of others might have benefitted because PRP benefits were known and technology available a decade ago, yet insurance industry still does not cover it. In a PM Unclem correctly pointed out that a shoulder injury can be the end of bodybuilding hobbyist or pro which sucks. I'd feel better if someone here had tried it. Shoulder hurts like a bitch now but will report back here weekly if it might help. I also got iPhone photos of the whole process. The procedure is so damn simple that it crossed my mind that some people here already have the knowledge and skills to do it themselves.

Yeah but where are they going to get a fluoroscope and centrifuge along with HgH and for less than $800

It's been eight days since I posted about my first PRP therapy injection, and I will post progress (or not) weekly. If you read the first post, I chose to try less intrusive PRP injection rather than traditional surgery, as recommended by my orthopedic surgeon after injury was confirmed by an MRI (although he was happy enough to try PRP first.) The shot wasn't painless, but close. Next two days, though, my shoulder hurt like an SOB, could barely lift my arm. With a torn RC and bicep tendon, pain over the previous few months was consistent, and bad enough to awaken me several times over the course of a night (it's fucking impossible to find a comfortable sleeping position with a torn RC). Lifting my arm above my shoulder was too painful to do it even to hang a shirt. So . . . good news after eight days. I've slept through the night the last three nights, and I can now raise my arm over my head, although it still hurts. My MD gave me exercises to do in the pool over the next six weeks. Then, we will decide whether or not to try a booster. I am, of course, eager to believe the PRP is the reason for the reduced pain -- but that hope alone does not account for a sufficient placebo effect for me to sleep through the night. After a week, there is definitely less pain. I'll post again next week.

that pretty much sounds like it would have the same effects as blood doping using EPO

Originally Posted by LAM

that pretty much sounds like it would have the same effects as blood doping using EPO

It certainly sounds similar, doesn't it, minus the 4 IUs of HGH. Key difference may be that the subject's own blood is out of his/her body for less than 20-minutes. If it works, I'm all for it. Rehab from RC surgery is three to five careful months, no upper body workouts (although rehab is supposedly markedly faster if patient also does PRP after surgery.) What a pain in the ass going to therapy three times a week for months.

this is great! Looking forward to more updates. Hope this works out well for you.

Originally Posted by maniclion

Yesterday on HPR's Body Show they had a surgeon who is a shoulder specialist who said that most rotator cuff injuries really don't need surgery, he was offering to email anyone who requested it a set of stretching exercises as a way to keep the tightness from developing. He said that most of the injuries shouldn't cause pain in itself, it's the period of babying that shoulder by people who normally are very active that cause the tightness to set in and that it's the tightness that causes the pain....

Man, I would love to believe that (and I'm willing to, although not babying my shoulder is what the Doc says caused me to really fuck it up to begin with.) And it would come as a huge surprise to all of Major League Baseball. By the way, I love the HST photo. I have some great HST stories, and a book signed from him telling me to watch out for the pigs on my way back to Aspen. Talk about a man obsessed with the craft of writing! His mom was a librarian and he worked his ass off, alone in the stacks, working at perfecting his sense of sentence. He reads easily, which is often the case, and always deceptive. The man paid his dues sweating blood, one word at a time.

Sounds too rich for my blood....

Originally Posted by maniclion

Yeah but where are they going to get a fluoroscope and centrifuge along with HgH and for less than $800

I think some of the pros here could hold their shoulder up to a bright light, and hit the right spot. But you're right, $800 for that procedure is the last-nickel-bargin in town -- if it works.