What was your injury that was treated with prp?
- patella tendonapathy (jumpers knee)
Did you try any other therapy before you opted for prp treatment?
- Physio/eccentric loading/rest/ice
Why did your physician decide to utilize prp for this injury?
- It was a step before surgery. It was natural. I was on funding at the time and it was a new procedure with decent results.
What medical facility did your physician perform this treatment? Hospital? Physician clinic?
- Hospital
Did your physician have you follow a specific protocol the night before your prp treatment?
- No
Do you remember how much blood was drawn from you? After they drew the blood, how long did you have to wait before the platelet rich plasma was ready for use on your injury?
- Spun for 5 minutes
What did the physician do to prepare the injury site for injection?
- Dry needling
Did the physician use ultrasound as a guide to place the platelet rich plasma?
- Yes
How did the injection feel? Explain. And do you remember how long the prp treatment took? If you had pain, how long did the pain last? Any swelling?
- No swelling. Bit of pain from dry needling but once the aesthetic kicked in the pain went. 5 mins of scanning the area, 1 minute to take the blood, 5 minutes to spin the blood, then 2 minutes dry needling and another 2 minutes PRP (estimate)
How long did the entire visit take?
- 20 minutes
After treatment, did your physician wrap the treatment site? If not, what did he do post treatment?
- No wrap.
What was your physicians post prp treatment protocol for you? Restrictions? Rest? Exercise? Stretching? Pain medication? Any specific directions you had to follow?
- Complete rest for around 3 weeks. Then progress onto bike for another month and training the muscle around the knee to tense properly. Then started rehab, eccentric loading, weights, balance etc. slowly building the load and then progressing onto running and jumping finally. Alongside physio and iceing. Probs around 3 months in total. No anti inflammatory drugs. Full rehab programme provided.
How much was the prp treatment?
- I had it covered by the BOA. But I think it was around £500
Did the treatment work for you? If so, when did you start feeling better? How soon could you bet back to playing your sport?
- Once I had completed the rehab I was able to compete/train without any pain for around 3 months before the pain came back at a similar level. Being a decathlete any injury is often found out if it has not healed properly as your body is pushed so much in a range of motions. It didn’t help my knee that my take-off leg was the same for long jump, pole vault and high jump. Surgery finally got rid of the injury.
Other comments or thoughts about your prp experience?
- This was done in 2010. I have had a PRP in my hamstring today. Spun for 5 minutes, done under ultrasound, dry needling was done first. Advice was to rest completely for 2 weeks and avoid anti inflammatory drugs. Then build back into training/rehab. Said the repair process will carry on for about 90 days so not to worry if pain was still felt initially. There was no pre-injection protocol.
