I have tendonosis/tendinopathy of the elbow, and was highly recommended for PRP therapy (platelet rich plasma injections), and post procedure recovery seems to be going painful, and painfully slow.
What have others experienced? I was given Tylenol threes for the pain, saying I’d suffer through, and the ride home nearly ended me. It was done Wednesday, and I can now finally move my fingers without pain, and the physician that did it was talking starting physical therapy this next week! I’m thinking he’s way to hopeful as wrist movement is still excruciating, bending the elbow is too.
Thinking this wasn’t a good call too (far too late for that now) but hoping to get a more realistic idea from someone who has done this already (which I should have probably done earlier, but two other physicians recommended it too ).
I’ve had tennis elbow and golfers elbow in both elbows. Those conditions can take a very long time (6-12 months) to heal with just conservative treatment like stretching and rest.
I don’t have direct experience with PRP treatment, but even if it accelerates recovery, I’d imagine it will still take a long time, and you’ll still need to treat conservatively (stretching and rest).
The two things that have worked for me are 1. stretching (religiously, multiple times a day, every day) and 2. For tennis elbow (outside of the elbow) an arm brace.
You can look up the best stretches on YouTube. Eg:
I’ve got the ‘bandit’ strap, and it works until it doesn’t. It’s been amazing how ‘bitchy’ my elbow has gotten. seem to constantly have to switch positions as it feels fine then pain again. The PRP seems to have just made it somewhat worse in the recovery phase.
Thanks. Have to get back to the point I can stretch again. They warned me it would be a long recovery, but I also have a tear, and advanced damage. Hoping I can recover from this…
I developed golfers elbow while going thru hand therapy. Bad cycling season that year.
While having hand PT I had him help me with my elbow. Figured he owed me since he caused it. Hahaha not really. No quick results.
Anyway, my orthopedic doctor and a few other medical people that rode, said PRP might help and really can’t hurt since it’s your blood. So he spun my blood and gave me the injection. I got the lump to stay about a week before I did a semi long session on the trainer and it moved down my arm.
It did start improving after that week. How much was the result of the shot? I can’t say. But I would do it again. I think I paid $250.00 out of pocket. It’s a long recovery like most tendon injuries are. Key is to work it but not over work it. It’s been almost a year and I have no pain. You will loose some Popeye muscle. That will come back with time.
Good luck.
I just have a lot of pain, and a trip coming up real soon. wondering if I should beg out of the trip (8 hours one way by plane). I thought I could handle this initially without meds, but the ride home fixed that idea. So need to lay low, and keep the bubble as long as I can then? Not an easy thing to do around these parts. Showering is interesting. It’s been an experience. Thanks for the reply…
They told me 2 weeks. I was able to get 1 week. I’m not one to stay still. I was told no anti inflammatorys. You want the swelling. They did stick some lidocaine in there when I got the PRP which killed the pain for my drive home. I waited 10 days before going back on the prescription anti inflammatorys. My hand was looking like a ballon again. Maybe they helped manage the pain. It was a choice between not being able to use my hand and maybe risk a longer elbow recovery. It was a no win either way. If it really hurts I would ask for a few pain medications. No reason these days to suffer a lot. Not being able to relax is not good for recovery.
They used lidocaine, but a fast acting type, so 15 minutes into a 2 hour ride, it was gone. Every bump, yeah…
I tried 2 8-hour tylenol, and I wouldn’t recommend it. Now on one tylenol 3 and one extra strength tylenol (don’t want too much codeine ). They told me no nsaids for 5 to 6 weeks, no ice over 5 minutes for same time span. Read online to not do caffeine, which seems a step to far.
Does your doc provide PRP as a routine part of his practice? Did he use ultrasound to guide the injections? I’ve had PRP three times and other than the site feeling uncomfortable for 24 hours I’ve never had any pain and never took drugs after the procedures. Felt fine in 48 hours.
First was for knee pain some 8 or 10 years ago. To irritate the area prolotherapy was done, and then the PRP without jabbing the site with a needle. Ultrasound was used to guide the injections. No pain, just a swollen, uncomfortable knee. No meds of any kind though they were advised.
Second was for a long term, chronic rotator cuff injury about 16 months ago. Different doc who did not use prolo, instead some lidocaine and scraped the area with a needle (thus the lidocaine). Ultrasound used to guide injections. Same thing, swelling and uncomfortable, but no pain and no meds. Felt fine in a couple days.
Third was follow-up for the shoulder 3-4 months ago. Same doc, same routine, though the equipment used to extract the platelets was the latest generation from the manufacturer which supposedly improves yields. No pain, no meds, felt fine a couple days.
We’re all different and our injuries are different, but I’ve never read anything about PRP being painful for an extended period of time.
Did you find the shoulder procedure to be effective? The fact that you had a second round of PRP a year after the first suggests it wasn’t a long-term fix. I ask because I’m debating this procedure for a chronic rotator cuff issue.
I was already having a lot of pain, having a partial tear in the ligament. With it being already ‘damaged’, I’m sure the injections were just way more damage, to hopefully be addressed by those magic little guys.
PRP, for me, was suggested as a ‘Hail Mary’ to put off surgery as long as possible. Surgery is to be avoided at all costs until it’s the only option is what everyone is telling me. I keep hearing stories of decreased mobility, more ligament and tendon problems and other badness post surgery, so really don’t want any of that.
An interesting wrinkle is most docs believe that this all started on the day that i hit a large gap in the asphalt on a rail trail upstate. recap: it was hiding in a shadow on the tree lined section. I hit it pretty hard, stretching my scapholunate tendon in my wrist, but no long lasting elbow or shoulder pain. The wrist flared up last year, and the first indication of elbow issues was early this spring.
‘It’s not the time, it’s the mileage’ – Indiana Jones
There is a definite drive to push people away from ‘hard pain meds’. The days of walking out of the hospital/clinic with a bottle full of high power pills is long long gone. (Back in the day, I had a knee scope and was given some of the most powerful narcos they make. I took one, and literally flushed the rest. I sat there drooling on myself, and realized I didn’t need that.)
This pain now is getting better, and I’ve cut back what was prescribed but sleeping is still a problem. But I have high hopes this will help me deal with this new issue, and sure hope my shoulder isn’t going to rear up and cause big issues. All from a damn poorly maintained rail trail!! I wish I had documented that day better. I never anticipated these medical issues, and bills!!
Maybe? When I first got it for the shoulder I was doing useless exercises prescribed by an ortho surgeon, which is standard treatment for a shoulder injury especially if you are avoiding surgery. The addition of PRP didn’t seem to do anything groundbreaking, and after some 6 months of slowly increasing weight to 7.5 pounds (arm raises etc.) with the exercises the pain was back. I then decided to come up with my own plan and had two months of massage and manual therapy, and that helped - the theory being it works out trigger points, scarring, etc. Had to insist with the PT that I was not interested in exercises - I can stretch my arm at home and exercises are useless, insurance co-pay is 40 bucks a visit so just work directly on the tissue (cuff and biceps) and break it all down, make me squirm and cry on the table just break it all down. So, two months of that helped but counterweight dips at 55 pounds still caused mild pain and so did carrying groceries. Then I had the PRP a second time, and have been pain free since then. Currently doing assisted dips at 25 pounds, no pain, but making sure I progress very slowly not taking any risks. The shoulder used to hurt just carrying a bag of groceries now normal, everyday activities don’t bother it at all. Was it the PRP, the massage therapy, or the combination of the two? Or just time? IMO the massage and manual therapy was a necessary first step that had been overlooked, because PRP isn’t going to break down scar tissue or release trigger points, and if those are present they are always going to cause problems. PRP after massage/manual seems like a good combo and appears to have worked for me.
They will throw me back in physical therapy real soon now, so I have hope.
If this doesn’t work, it’s the ‘Tenex Procedure’. Which sounds really painful and risky. I’m rather concerned at the amount of a tear I have. I would assume its parallel with the grain of the tendon, or sure hope so.
Tried riding on the trainer and had elbow pain so ‘too soon’ is a yep.
On the trainer with my arm hanging down is why my lump moved.
At least you still have options.
Give it some time. It’s hard but time heals all wounds. Or something like that.
My wife thinks they hit the ulnar nerve when they were doing the injections. It was excruciating, but could just be because it was so painful already. So hard to tell what’s going on. Hah! Maybe I need a hobby to keep my mind off this? I don’t do ‘take it easy’ well I guess.
Well, it seems to be getting better. Still sensitive, but it probably will be. And I’ve read more on people getting the treatment, and some people say 6 to 8 months, so anticipation has been my worst that I deal with, but I’ll have to ‘be good’ and be grateful for the pluses I’ve experienced and believe there will be more. YES!!
I had PRP on my elbow a few years ago. At first it seemed like nothing was happening. The old pain was still there and I was still weak in that arm. But then at about week 8, it started to heal and another few months after that it was really healing fast. I would say it took about 6 months it get back to 100%.
It’s gone back to hurting quite a bit. It’s not the near continuous that I had before, but like this morning, I woke up to the familiar sharp pains again. Have to say that before IT would wake me up, and now it’s my shrunken bladder, but yeah, my love of the procedure has been tempered a bit, but the next up the ladder is the Tenex, and that has a lot more possible side effects and the very real potential of it creating even more damage and more problems/pain.
Am I sad I got it done? Still no, but we’ll see how things progress…
Another thing is that I needed Aleeve and Tylenol to cut the pain, and now just Tylenol.
I did travel for vaca and took baby aspirin for the 6 hours of travel, and wonder if that stopped any of the magic, but the doc said no, and that getting a DVT would be a lot worse, yeah, but… Again:
That’s great. I think my issue was a large tear, and the extra time I took to get to treatment, and all of the things I did to aggravate it. Yeah, it’s not the time, it’s the mileage…
).
I don’t do ‘take it easy’ well I guess.