PRP treatment in Northern Ireland?

[kneegurubro]

I'm currently in ireland, but can't find anywhere that does PRP, does anyone know anywhere that does it in this country?

[vickster]

You'd be best to contact the private secretaries of some of the top knee surgeons and ask. There's a knee specialist database in the information hub eg for Belfast

http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/KNEEnotes/specialists?field_pro_type_tid=All&country=gb&province=All&city=Belfast&title=

Could get very expensive though once you've paid for consultations, potentially repeat imaging. PRP in England at least is around £400-500 a shot if not insured. Rarely used on NHS

[kneegurubro]

Thanks, i'm considering PRP, prolotherapy or subchondroplasty, do you know what these three are specifically good for? I read subchondro is good for reducing knee edema, while PRP is good for reducing inflammation but not sure about prolo

[vickster]

Prolotherapy, seems like a lot of nonsense to me, a bit like a lot of homeopathy.  Injecting sugar water seems to have little basis in science. I very much doubt there have been any properly conducted clinical trials, unlike stemcells and PRP.  PRP according to my OS is for soft tissue inflammation, eg tendinopathy and not  anything bone related, but he's pretty conservative.  I don't know what views other UK specialists may hold in this regard.  I had it for tennis elbow, not that it had any effect, the damage was too far down the line by then.

There's not a lot out there to speed up healing for a bone bruise, other than rest, time and patience unfortunately

[kneegurubro]

I agree,
My mri says there's edema and a popliteal cyst, so i'd be hoping PRP could reduce those and let the bone heal on it's own
 there's other problems that may have been brought on by the bone bruise too, popping of the knee when i move suddenly in a different direction and crunching/catching when i fully extend the knee, do you know if PRP would reduce either of these, or is there any other treatments you can get to do so? Exercise doesn't seem to  reduce these

[vickster]

I'm not a doctor, nor any other posters on the site. Why not get a consultation with a knee specialist and ask them for their opinions? What have previous doctors said?  Hyaluronic acid injections seem to help my cartilage damaged, meniscus deficient left knee so if there's any arthritic changes, that might be worth trying. Does the crunching and popping hurt? If not, it's probably not a worry that needs invasive treatment.mjoint injections aren't without risks even if using your own blood

[kneegurubro]

Will do, they think it functions mostly normally and nothing big to worry about
It doesn't hurt, there was locking which hurt, but that hasn't happened for a while, you're right but ithe crunching annoys me as it happens a lot so i want to find something to reduce it, so i may consider trying it out to see if it does
There's also some stiffness in the knee, would PRP reduce that, since it may be due to inflammation ?

[vickster]

Muscle strength around the knee should help reduce any maltracking, the likely cause of crunching (if you've not got loads of damage, torn bits, inflammation which it seems not from what you've said)

See a new sports physio, specialised in knees, fresh eyes, definitely starting to work  for me (although I have pain not crunching). Do you do daily physio to aid ROM and stiffness?

You could try PRP if able to find a surgeon who is willing to use it in your case, but don't expect a panacea from one jab and there are risks with any injection. 

Have you made an appointment with a specialist there?

[kneegurubro]

I've been doing a lot of strengthening for the past few months (my bad leg is has bigger muscles than the good one now) though it doesn't seem to have reduced the crunching (so maybe it isn't due to that?).
The first mri said there was a baker's cyst,the current one doesn't mention it, but says there's a semimebraneous bursa (smaller than the first mri scan) so there's probably both swelling and inflammation
I do
I understand
Not yet but may do so soon

[vickster]

As I'm finding, it's not about strength and muscle bulk, it's about muscle balance and biomechanics. You need a good physio to assess what's working and what's not. Me for example I have muscular calves, but the muscles are extremely tight, I have good balance on the left glute but the right is poor, the ITB is a bit tight, ditto the quads.

Also, just because the MRI shows something, it doesn't mean it's an issue. Radiologists are paid to point out everything. If you look at my left knee MRI, you'd think I was on the way to a new knee but right now despite the meniscus tears, cysts, bone spurs and worn cartilage, it's actually not too bad pain and function wise!!

Before paying lots of money for injections, find a physio to get everything checked, get the patella tracking assessed. It'll cost you £50 or so rather than £500+

[bradyj7]

Hi,

I'm from Ireland too, near Dublin.

The Santry Sports Clinic do PRP injections. I've had it (not in my knee). It was < 200 euro.

http://www.sportssurgeryclinic.com/services/sports-medicine/prp-injection/377

Cathal Moran is a very good cartilage knee surgeon. Did a very good job with me. He could advice on subcondrondplasty.

[kneegurubro]

Thanks for the replies i will take what yee said into consideration,
Can a bone bruise cause crepitus? Is there evidence of crepitus on a mri scan?

[vickster]

Well the causes of crepitus might be seen on MRI, meniscus tear, cartilage deterioration, inflammation. I'm not sure how a bone bruise would cause it, as this is edema/damage within the bone, although the inflammation or other damage accompanying it might

[kneegurubro]

Yes i was speaking to another member about when i do illotibial bank stretches, the crunching temporarily goes away for about 20 minutes,  so  that meas crepitus is unlikely causing the crunching, and more to do with muscle tension wouldn't it?