PRP injection, for rotator cuff tear.. giving it a try!

Back story... I had torn my rotator cuff in 2014, had the usual surgery, consisting of Anchors etc.
Shoulder never felt 100% fixed, but figured that's the nature of the beast... Im a pretty active mid 50 guy, who golfs once every couple weeks, and lifts weight 3 days a week (all machines, no bench).. and does Cardio the other 4 days... again... pretty active.

Fast forward to about a month ago.. Shoulder was really starting to feel sore, not as bad as it did when i had my first surgery (then i couldnt lift hand over head, comb hair, pull up pants)... this time, I could lift hand over head etc.. just felt pain, and a lack of strength....so went in for another MRI.

WELL...... small full thickness tear!!! ugh!! of the supraspinatus tendon about 14mm...

Dreading the idea of Surgery and re-hab again!! I looked into PRP injections.. and there was/is so much conflicting reports as too what it will and wont do.. as far as healing tears...

I felt it was worth a try.. I had my injection (about 7 total) on Monday the 6th.. will keep posting on this thread from time to time.. the results. Good or Bad.

the initial shot wasn't as bad as I thought.. they take 10 tubes of blood spin them 2 sep. times to harvest the PRP, then injected my shoulder all around the injured area using ultrasound for guidance.. First couple injections were like a normal shot, then after that, the 3-7 must of hit the spot as I felt quite a bit of discomfort and you could feel the pain all along the spot where I was feeling the injury.. felt like a dentist hitting a nerve.

the rest of day, shoulder was basically useless, completely tight and sore... day 2 was much better, could lift arm waist high, still quite a bit of discomfort/pain. And by day 3 could lift above head with a bit of pain.

Today is day 5, I feel almost like I did before going in for injection... WEEK 2-4 will be the determining factor and I should start feeling some relief. If I do.. I will go for 2nd injection on week 6-7. If I get ZERO relief, ill chalk it up to a "it was worth a try" and explore surgical option.

feel free to PM me if ya have any questions..

 

2 week update....

well the shoulder pain is still there.. not as bad as pre injection. Hard to discern if the improvement is from the treatment or the fact ive done NO weight lifting.. Golf... or anything physical since injections as instructed.
According to Dr. weeks 2-4 will show if the procedure is going to work, as that is the time frame for most improvement.. lifted weights for first time yesterday, today.. still feel OK, not perfect and not pain free.. still feel something amiss... time will tell.

will post update in 4 weeks... fingers crossed!

docf---- I hear ya!! would love to hear more from you via PM on what ya decided for your wife, via the patch procedure.

 

update.... its been 1 week since my 2nd round of injections.

I did feel quite a bit of relief from the first round of injections... otherwise I never would of put myself thur the pain of 2nd round, and cost. And it does HURT!!

I will say the 2nd round of injection, initially hurt WAY more than first, but the day after, it felt a lot less pain than first round. (weird).

the gain from 1st round was about 50% better on back part of shoulder, and about 20% gain on front portion. I passed that along to my DR. and proceeded TO NAIL the front part on 2nd set of injections. Time will tell, but so far im very happy with the results

in approx. 12 weeks I will do another MRI and have them compared to pre injection MRI. I was told by my primary, not to put a lot of faith in the comparisons, as machines very as well as reading radiologists.. so minimal diff may not be seen. But he did say, if there is significant improvement it would be able to be seen. As with anything, best to go by how ya feel.

I have decided at this point whatever the MRI outcome is.... NO SURGERY. Already went thru that once. As of now, I do have GOOD range of motion, and very little pain. And, ive accepted the fact my GYM routine is forever changed, and the loss of strength on that side is something im just gonna deal with...and im ok with that!

 

Sorry..just saw this. YES!!!

had a THIRD and final set of injections about 4 weeks ago. DR. wasn't even going to do it, as my range of motion is approx. 95% my good shoulder. Basically no pain at all now, can sleep thru the night even on bad shoulder (prior to injections, if I laid on bad shoulder, id light up like a fire cracker after 3-5 min.)

Strength is coming back as well.. but im NOT pushing it at the gym, still lifting weights, just not as heavy. I guess at 55 that ship has sailed! but ZERO pain when lifting.

my primary DR. is amazed! said getting another MRI is throwing money away, he can see from examining me, the progress...

 

APEX IX....

I cant stress enough.. that if I were you I would 100% get a PRP injections!! may be 2 rounds of it. I have ZERO to gain from telling you this, other than my shoulder is 90-95% better! I can literally do anything and everything.. golf, no issues.. but foremost sleeping!! prior to shots if I laid on the bad shoulder, within 2 minutes the pain would be so bad I had to roll back over. Now I can sleep on either side with no issues. Is it perfecta? NO, im still super careful how much I lift at gym, im cognizant of any lifting I do at home.. I don't have any pain, but understand mid 50's and don't want to do anything to re-aggravate it!

ill be going back once a year for maintenance injection on BOTH shoulders, I believe in it that much!! see too many guys our age walking around in the tell tale sling that indicates rotator cuff surgery!!

good luck, I hope for the best for ya... shoulder injuries suck!!