PRP Therapy — straight answers
The questions tendon, ligament, and joint patients ask us most when they're deciding if PRP is the right next step.
How long does a PRP injection last?
PRP is a healing accelerator, not a numbing agent. Most patients feel meaningful change at 4–6 weeks, peak benefit at 3 months, and durable results that hold for 12–24 months — sometimes years, depending on what we treated and how you load the joint afterwards. We track outcomes at 4, 8, and 12 weeks so we know what's working.
How many PRP sessions will I need?
Acute tendon and ligament cases often respond to a single PRP. Stubborn chronic cases (rotator cuff over a year old, severe tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis that won't quit) usually do best with 2 PRP sessions spaced 4–6 weeks apart. We tell you the realistic number at your consult — no upselling.
Is the PRP injection painful?
The blood draw feels like a normal lab draw. The injection itself is brief; we use buffered PRP and small-gauge needles, and image guidance when the target is deep (rotator cuff, hip labrum). Most patients describe a couple days of "good soreness" afterwards — that's the platelets activating.
Does PRP actually work for rotator cuff, tennis elbow, or plantar fasciitis?
These three are the strongest responders in our clinic. The published literature backs it up too — for partial-thickness rotator cuff tears, chronic lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), and recalcitrant plantar fasciitis, PRP outperforms cortisone at 12 months in most head-to-head trials. We'll show you the imaging logic at the consult.
What's the difference between PRP and a cortisone shot?
Cortisone reduces inflammation quickly but does not address the underlying tendon or joint, and repeated cortisone can weaken tissue over time. PRP works differently — it concentrates your own growth factors at the injury site to support the body's natural repair signaling. For specific indications such as chronic lateral epicondylitis and plantar fasciitis, published trials report PRP may offer more durable benefit than cortisone at 12 months. Individual results vary; we'll discuss the evidence specific to your case at consult.nths.
Can I work out the same week as PRP?
Light activity (walking, easy stretching) the same day — yes. Heavy loading on the treated joint or tendon — we ask you to wait 5–10 days so the platelets can do their work without being kicked off the site. We give you a written return-to-load progression based on the joint we treated.
