PRP for rotator cuff injury?

If you are in constant pain from the tear, surgical intervention is likely needed. If the rotator cuff can't be fixed, the other option is a reverse total shoulder replacement.

I'm 71 and 10 months out from an anatomical TSR on my left shoulder. I have worked hard and am very happy with the results.

I suggest talking through these options and others with your surgeon.

As for gel injections in the shoulder - the FDA has approved for the knee, but not for the shoulder. you can still get the injections if your Dr agrees, but they won't be covered by insurance, are expensive, and only provide temporary relief, if that.

@heyjoe415 Thank you I am trying to advoid surgery if possible because of other medical issues but it is hard. Starting pt again and will probably try PRP as last resort

Thanks for the information Silver and I do hope you feel better soon.

It's easy for me to suggest surgery, but I can't know all the details of your situation, so please forgive me for being presumptuous. I didn't mean to me.

So yes, check with your surgeon to see if he or she would consider a PRP injection for you.

And a correction, PRP is not the same as a gel (hyaluronic acid). Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) uses your own plasma. The gel injection does not. As far as I know, gel injections are approved for the knee by the FDA, but no other joint. Drs still give gel injections in the shoulder (a "black label" or off-label use), so please do check with your Dr on what may be best for you).

Whatever you do, I hope you find relief. I lived with shoulder pain for the better part of a year and it interfered with just about everything I did, including sleep. If at some point surgery is an option for you, the recovery takes time but it does eliminate the pain in almost all cases. Your surgeon can explain the process in detail and specific to your unique case.

(In the meantime, you could look into using BioFreeze Professional, a very effective but temporary menthol gel. KT Tape may also be an option worth looking into. I'm not sure that works for an RC tear. I had extensive osteoarthritis in my shoulder but my RC was intact, and so I had an anatomically-correct TSR and the tape helped pre-surgery. Finally, 5% lidocaine patches are available with a prescription. They can be placed over the shoulder and last 12 hours.)

All the best to you Silver!

Joe

Thank you I appreciate your advice

I don't know what PRP means but i used to teach a rotator cuff repair/damage protection exercise to my students...i could probably attempt to write it out if you thought it might help

@silvern12

When you say you have a 50% year in your RC, is that to mean a partial or full thickness tear? That said, PRP is pretty useless on a full thickness tear. Additionally, if your Dr is conducting an unguided injection (poke & hope), the chances of a positive outcome drastically decreases. Also, the volume of platelets injected should exceed 5 billion which means they should extract approximately 100 CCs of blood from you. Some of the PRP SMEs say most ortho shops buy the cheaper Chinese prp kits which only come with much smaller blood draw stuff. Do your research online to gain very useful information on the whole prp process. It’s too expensive to trust your Dr without knowing the ins and outs of the process.

I know because I too have a trashed shoulder and, do to going through 2 prior extensive RCR procedures, know the recovery time is very painful and it completely sucks.

Good luck.

Thank you for all that information. I will definitely look into it before I decide to get the injection They want 1650$ for it which is a lot.

@silvern12
I have had 3 PRP for knee pain and have experienced reduced pain and increased function. Good luck… it takes time and patience.

@silvern12 My shoulder doc declined to try PRP on a "gnarly" rotator cuff tear - he said there were so many areas damaged that trying to figure out where to inject would be a guessing game. And that, based on his research and experience, even with a guided injection into a single area of damage, chances of success are below 50% on shoulders. On the other hand, he does use it on elbows where the point of damage is usually more clearly defined, so he is not anti-PRP.
PS My 20 month old complex repair is holding up well. Although the recovery and PT were long (and boring), it was far from the most painful surgery I ever had. The results are worth it - I have regained 90%+ range of motion, 80% strength, and lost all the pain.

Thank you. I have a consultation on Thursday about the MRI. The orthopedist sent me to a pain dr for it.