PRP injection for PFS

[Gobi]

Just had my first PRP injection today to treat a bad case of patella femoral syndrome in both knees. I've tried everything including PT, orthotics, and hyalgan injections.The final deep piece of my cartilage just won't heal and gets irritated quickly. I was an avid runner and am hoping that this will help in increasing blood flow to the area and heal that final piece on the femur side.  I also have tracking issues and need to strengthen my VMO, which is contributing to the problem as well.

I'm being treated in NJ and my doc just shared that some insurance carriers are going to reimburse the cost effective July 1st.  Crossing my fingers that I'll be one of the lucky ones.

Please share if this treatment has worked for you and PFS. 

[pmt]

Hi Gobi,
Thanks for posting.    Are you getting PRP from an orthopedic surgeon or from an alternative medicine (prolotherpy person)?   What is your doctor's approach for locating the injection?  Ultrasound?   And finally, when you learn which insurers will cover PRP, please post.  This would be such an important development!

[Gobi]

I'm getting my injections from a non-surgical sports medicine doctor located in Paramus, NJ. Here's his link  http://mysportsmedicine.com/doctor.htm 

He did an ultrasound of my knee and it also revealed that my knee is collapsing on the inside which of course means that I need to really strengthen my vmo, the root of my problem. I've tried many exercises but I am just not getting results.  He uses an ultrasound to guide his needle insertion and then injects the platelets throughout the damaged cartilage. He makes one needle insertion through the skin, but then multiple injections inside the knee. It didn't hurt since he first injects the anesthetic in the knee, which hurt in some spots.  The code he gave me to share with my insurance carrier is 0232T, at the moment my insurance knew nothing about it. 

I'm one week post injection and since both of my knees are messed up I can really compare. I have to say my left knee, which was slightly worse, feels pretty much the same right now.  He told me I have to wait 2-3 weeks before I will feel any difference and hopefully I will.

[pmt]

Thanks for the info!  Please keep us posted on how you progress.

[Gobi]

So I'm two weeks post injection of the left knee and I have to say that it's still tender but less than the right knee. My left knee initially was worse.  Doc says I won't really see results until weeks 3 and 4, so I still have  some time to make a better call. I'm going to do two shots and if there is no success than I will discontinue. I'm still searching for facilities where my insurance may cover the cost.

I'm also going into Kinetic Physical Therapy. They take a mechanical approach to treating patients. They are movement specialists and biomechanical experts which makes them uniquely qualified to treat any movement related condition. Highly recommend it to runners to stay injury free.  After my first visit they were able to identify where my problems were coming from which were the ankles, (who knew ankles could contribute to knee problems), my hips, and glutes.  He did a bunch of movements that my two previous traditional PTs did not do and has released a tremendous amount of tightness that all the traditional stretches could not relieve.  He believes he'll have me running again. 

I'll continue with the injections in my one knee only and along with the Kinetic Physical Therapy I'm sure I'll start seeing some progress and compare the knees.  Crossing my fingers!!

[rcknee]

how's it going and any word on insurance issue?

[ashok_guru]

Hi Gobi,

Please  update us on the progress...am also planning to try out this PRP.
Please share your experiences after your took your PRP injections. How was the pain level ? Will we able to go to work after taking these injections ?


Thanks

[Gobi]

I only had one PRP injection and was told to save my money. There just hasn't been enough documented research to support cartilage repair. It works well for tissues and ligaments.  My one injection was not very painful since the doctor numbed the area first, that needle however did hurt. I was limping the first day of the injection but I was fine the second and walked without any pain.

As I mentioned before my PT has been amazing and now I am having surgery on Wed. to clean up the cartilage and to see what's really going on. My doctor thinks I have enough to run but still the tenderness doesn't seem to improve. It may be the end of running but I have to try everything before I cave.   Cartilage transplant??  I'm waiting for the bionic knee.

[irentat]

It may be the end of running but I have to try everything before I cave.   Cartilage transplant??  I'm waiting for the bionic knee.

Gobi,

It sounds like you have tried surgery, PT and one PRP treatment.  What is your next phase of protocols to try?  What are you doing to help the recovery from surgery?  I ask because there is so much out there to try....and I have tried a lot including PRP.  Certain things work and some don't.

Please keep us informed.