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Plasma Rich Protein Injections

briancoote

Jul 3, 09 9:19

Post #1 of 13 (789 views)

Plasma Rich Protein Injections	Can't Post

Has anyone had experience with Plasma Rich Protein injections. I had one in my achilles tendon about 4 weeks ago and I'm still waiting for the magic to happen. I'm trying to avoid the 3rd achilles surgery.

rroof

Jul 3, 09 9:45

Post #2 of 13 (778 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [briancoote] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I do them - getting mixed results with them, but you should have noticed some improvement by now ...
____________________________________
Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

lobopac

Jul 3, 09 10:10

Post #3 of 13 (753 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [briancoote] [In reply to]	Can't Post

The foot/ankle ortho I work with does them with mixed results also. He states 75% success rate is what is common.....seems like slightly less to me. Curious if you were immobilized after (cast or CAM walker, Aircast)?

Rroof...what percentage success have you seen? We do a lot of plantar fasciitis, some Achilles.

rroof

Jul 3, 09 10:44

Post #4 of 13 (739 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [lobopac] [In reply to]	Can't Post

not getting near the results in the "literature" - certainly less than 75%, but more than 1/2. Usually a better option than surgery, so I'm still giving it a go a little longer for those that don't respond to typical conservative therapy
____________________________________
Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

tigerchik

Jul 3, 09 17:05

Post #5 of 13 (678 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [rroof] [In reply to]	Can't Post

what is it and what's it supposed to do?
_____________
mmm, pi!

rroof

Jul 3, 09 17:40

Post #6 of 13 (669 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [tigerchik] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Your google/bing powers are fading ...

check out www.harvesttech.com for some good reading.
____________________________________
Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

The_Mickstar

Jul 3, 09 17:50

Post #7 of 13 (659 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [briancoote] [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To:

Are these different than Platelet Rich Plasma injections? I've had a series of those (3 visits, about a month apart, multiple ultrasound-guided injections each visit), and they worked for me.

Steve

Steve

Cerv�lo Mafia
member since June 2006

briancoote

Jul 3, 09 18:42

Post #8 of 13 (628 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [The_Mickstar] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Steve I'm glad they worked for you ...my physician's protocol was walking boot for a week they start gradual eccentric strengthening. I'm just barely able to do a heel raise with my body weight. How long did it take you to get back to running. Still waiting to hear from insurance if they are covered but at this point I'll pay a pretty penny.

The_Mickstar

Jul 4, 09 3:45

Post #9 of 13 (578 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [briancoote] [In reply to]	Can't Post

WARNING: I'm not a medical-type, and really only cared that they "fixed" me. So, if you see a (?), it means I may not be remembering with 100% accuracy. But, you'll get the idea.

Here's the place I had mine done... http://www.craneclinic.com/ There's some interesting stuff on the site about the procedure - including a video explaining what they do and why it's supposed to work. The Dr. is an Ironman, and sponsors one of the local cycling clubs. So, I felt like he had a pretty good idea of what we put ourselves through. And, he came recommended from other athletes.

My issue was with the ligament (?) between the 2nd and 3rd metatarsals in my left foot. I have Morton's Syndrome (short 1st metatarsal bone, which results in the appearance of having a long 2nd toe). And, apparently, this was contributing to the ligament (?) in question being stressed/damaged when running due to my big toe not being able to support as it should. It would become pretty painful - especially on longer runs. Cycling also occassionally aggravated it. When it hurt, it felt like I had a broken foot or a pinched nerve. It would start out as a dull pain, but just keep getting worse & worse until it was very sharp and concentrated to the area. Even post-run, I would have difficulty walking around in bare feet on hard surfaces.

I tried a bunch of other things prior to the PRP injections, including having a very expensive set of custom orthotics made with carbon heel cups/arch and large, gel metatarsal pads. Nothing worked.

The injury did not show up on X-Ray (that I remember), but showed up plain as day on Ultrasound as a white area, which I believe the Dr. said was a calcium (?) buildup.

As I said, my treatment consisted of a series of 3 visits - each about a month apart. Some people require more visits, some less. When the patient reports that they are 80% pain-free, they discontinue treatment to see the results before continuing. (Results aren't instantaneous, and it takes longer than a month to see the full extent.) Each visit consisted of them drawing blood (from my arm), spinning it down for ~10 minutes in a centrifuge, then injecting the PRP directly into the injured area at multiple points (~10 injections) using an ultrasound machine to guide the needle. They used freeze spray to numb the area (bottom of the left foot in my case) prior to injecting, but it still hurt like a mofo.

Each time, my foot would swell to the point that made walking uncomfortable and I couldn't wear a regular shoe. I could hobble around and get a Croc on, though. But, this got less with each visit - probably because with each visit they had to do less "probing" with the needle during injection since the area was getting smaller.

Resuming training was left up to me. If I felt like I could, I had the green light. I'm going by memory, but I believe I was back in the pool in ~3 day, back on the bike in 4-5 days and back to running in about a week each time. So, it doesn't really hurt too much, training-wise. I used it as a recovery week every 4th week. I will say that I did take a few days to work back into it when I resumed each time, just to play it safe.

I do still occassionally get the dull pain feeling while running. But, it isn't very often (only a handful of times in the last 18 months) and it doesn't progress. So, I'm very happy. It was expensive, though. I believe they hit my insurance for ~$2K for each visit.

Hope that helps.

Steve

Steve

Cerv�lo Mafia
member since June 2006

DISKA

Jul 13, 09 17:39

Post #10 of 13 (500 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [briancoote] [In reply to]	Can't Post

just curious as to how your AT is feeling since this procedure was done. would you recommend it?

Trash Talk

Jul 13, 09 18:53

Post #11 of 13 (468 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [briancoote] [In reply to]	Can't Post

My GF knows all about them.

btmoney

Jul 13, 09 19:38

Post #12 of 13 (434 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [Trash Talk] [In reply to]	Can't Post

zing!
____________________________

Rocky M

Jul 14, 09 0:00

Post #13 of 13 (386 views)

Re: Plasma Rich Protein Injections [briancoote] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Brian, I had this done in November '08 after going to doc after doc & trying specialists & any therapy you can think of. Finally, after my physiatrist misdiagnosed what I had, a radiologist spied something & suggested it was something else (torn tendon at the attachment area in the arse). Two years of injury & no luck, the physiatrist sent me over to a guy that does PRP. He said I was an ideal case, had it done, and it has worked wonders. I'm not 100% my old (younger) self, and still have pain, but I was able to finish an Ironman a month ago and did fairly well (for me anyhow). I would recommend this to anyone having trouble healing tendon tears who has had no luck using other therapy or rehab. I only had it done 1x...but 7 months later have been able to live life mostly (mostly but not always) pain free. Good luck!