Worse after prp.and stem cells in shoulder

I am on my second shot. First shot stem cells, second prp. Day 7 and lots of swelling and pain in my ankle. I cant even walk as its my subtalor joint that was treated. I have a youtube channel that I post my experience. Hopefully it helps

Hi there:

I had my second set of PRP injections (both knees) yesterday.  I followed the same routine as I did after I got my first set of injections.  After I got the injections I came home and basically stayed in bed for about 4-hours (watching TV) and slept for 2.5 hours.  After that I started applying cold gel packs to both knees.  I was experiencing extreme pain BEHIND MY knee (called the popliteal fossa in medical terms).  The right knee was worse than the left one but that was likely because my right knee usually has more pain, inflammation and remains swollen regularly.  Actually even the PRP inject was EXTREMELY painful in the right knee.

I continued to stay in bed getting up to go to the bathroom or get something to eat and continually used the gel packs.  I have a few gel packs so I kept rotating them, using one set of cold gel packs and after they were not too cold I would replace them with another gel pack.  I always keep my gel packs in the freezer ever since I started problems with my knees around 15 years ago.

I stayed in bed through the second day as well, sleeping, watching TV, having meals.  I kept trying to straighten out my knees while in bed and would also flex them to the maximum I could.  This was helpful.  At times I would stand and keep my hands on the kitchen counter to take my upper body weight on my shoulders and put my knees in full hyperflexion (straightening the knees to the max).

On the third day I was able to go to work and since then I find there has been a gradual improvement of pain in my knees.  Though I do my best to minimize my walking.  Based on Google fit I walk on average around 3500 steps, on a few days I walked 5000+ steps.  The day before my injections I had actually overdone it by walking 7600 steps.  I have so far never made it to the required 10,000 steps/day.  Basically, I am being very careful about how much I walk.  I am hoping tomorrow my knees will be fine and I will go to work.

In fact I just tried out my legs by going outside and walked 545 steps.  I limped very slightly because of my right knee but overall the pain was definitely tolerable.  At times I could avoid limping totally.

My next and last set of PRP injections are 6-days from today.  I am praying my knees are in much better shape by the time of my next injections.

I am not sure how helpful this is to all of you.  My only suggestion is get plenty of rest and apply cold packs (over your jeans or other leg wear).  Do not apply the cold packs on your bare leg, that is not advisable. 

Another thing to keep in mind is don't just buy a "naked" gel pack by itself.  Instead buy gel packs which are specifically inside a sleeve with long straps with velcro.  Wear these gel packs relatively tight, not so you are blocking blood circulation.  But still reasonably tight so they stay on when you are in bed or go to the bathroom.

If you cannot get the knee gel packs with straps get the ones for the waist i.e. for lower back pain.  They also come in a sleeve with straps and velcro at the end.  In fact the waist gel packs are much larger (about 24 inches long and about 8-10 inches wide).  They are definitely better.  But overall both knee gel packs and waist gel packs work very well.

The only thing to avoid is hot gel packs they are the WORST for inflammation and pain, and do nothing to address your pain.  At least that is my experience and my opinion.

I cannot say if the above descriptions of how I am taking care of my recovery after the PRP injections will work for you but I thought I would share it in some detail so you get some idea of what has worked for me.

Please note none of what I say can replace the advice of your doctor.  I have ONLY described my own experience.

Good luck everyone, and may your pain begone   . 

BarryK

I am going through that with my hips and I also had a stem cell injection along with platelets. I have been worse not better also but I took Motrin with the time frame I was supposed to only take Tylenol. I had hoped that didn't hurt me. The Tech said it wouldn't make or break it they just preferred me not to. However I have worried about it. It may be you get worse at first and then better. I know the Tech told me the stem cell develops according to your pain level whatever that means.

Marilyn

I got PRP 4 months ago in my knees, wrists and lower back. I feel that it has ruined my life. I realized a week ago that I had no movement in my left wrist (it had been in so much pain for four months that I had been avoiding moving it and so didn't notice until recently), and the doc sent me to Physical Therapy, which the stem cell clinic didn't offer to pay for. I'll be in PT for up to 6 months, and my physical therapist doesn't think I will gain back all of my movement. I'm scheduled for an MRI in a few weeks, and there's a possibility that eventually I may need surgery. Both wrists are extremely sore still as well. Both my knees are still in extreme pain when I exercise, and my hikes are limited to about 4 miles (I didn't have a limit before).

When I came into the clinic, the doc said that this procedure was so low-risk, that there wouldn't be any harm in doing it even though my original symptoms were so minute (some stretched tendons causing a very low level of intermittent pain). Now I can't do yoga, hike, or dance - all the things I love most. I hope my pain diminishes and I'm not permanently disabled from a procedure I didn't even need.

Hi Everyone,

I'm 4 weeks out from being destroyed by PRP. I saw my Dr last week and he told me he injected twice in each shoulder, and used the Rich PRP which is known to cause the most inflammation. He basically said that he misjudged my tolerance to the extreme pain it was going to cause me. What???? He never even told me he was doing that:( I had asked him prior if I only need to take one day off of work and he said yes. I was off work for a full week and then partially the second week, but working in excruciating pain. It is true that my job puts me in awkward positions (Brazilian waxes and facial procedures which is probably why I have a lot of my problems and pain to begin with) but I should've been warned!!!

So he ended up giving me a Cortizone shot in each shoulder which immediately got rid of my pain. I'm pretty sure I ruined and wasted the PRP if it was going to work, because I like other people here on this forum I was forced to take Advil just so I wasn't crying all the time. He seems to think that it's still going to work,??? I think doctors are educated guessers and they don't know what they're doing, they're just hoping for the best. And because the last time he gave me a shot in my shoulder a year ago and it didn't work, I think he just went for gold this time, which was an epic fail!

I see him again next week to try to decide what my next move is. My arms look like I'm 90 (no offense to 90 yrs olds) and I'm too afraid to do any weight training for fear of ruining my Cort shots, so all I can actually do is my job, which also might ruin my Cort shots.

I'll come back here and give you an update after I see him on Monday. And let you know if I'm going to have to have surgery on both my shoulders and possibly a hip replacement. My husband and I are getting a pool which he's hoping will help rehab me, and I got a Pilates reformer to also help with getting my body back to where it used to be. And I don't know about any of you here, but I find that physical therapy is the biggest waste of time! All they want to do is give me printed it out sheets of what exercises I should do at home:/ So I stopped PT in exchange for doing an hour and a half Thai Massage every week which has been amazing!!! I highly recommend, it's highly therapeutic, and then after that I get a chiropractic adjustment. Maybe it's placebo but that combination has been the best treatment I've had so far.

And just a short note on how pain turns you into a bitter cranky person. Right now I'm pain-free because of the Cortizone shots and me not being an idiot and trying to go out and run 3 miles. I really tried to pay attention to how much nicer I am when I'm not in chronic pain, I just feel less negative. And for my job I really need to not complain to my clients especially while I'm in the middle of doing it. So fingers crossed that I can find something that can at least make me not be so angry! I now understand why so many people get addicted to painkillers and then end up killing themselves they just can't take it anymore. I wish that these pain doctors would really understand how pain really destroys your brain. If you Google it you'll find that it really does change the chemistry of your brain.

https://www.neura.edu.au/news/new-discovery-how-chronic-pain-changes-your-brain-and-personality

As of now, Jan. 10 2021, I've had to get cortisone shots regularly in both my shoulders and in my left hip. My left hip is so bad that after finally getting an x-ray, it shows I need a hip replacement. And I also need to have both shoulders tended to as well. But the hip is most important at this moment. I would never do PRP or Bone Marrow again. I feel like the DR sold me a bill of goods. It turns out the these treatments do work on someone without a spleen, and my DR knew this. Very frustrated. I'm sorry about the 4 weeks of pain you've had to endure. And I know the feeling of wanting to kill yourself if you can't get better. I hope it works for you! I think PRP is like throwing darts in the dark!

I dont know how old this thread is but i'm keen to know if your shoulder improved? i had PRP in my SI joint 7 weeks ago and am in more pain now than before. I have tried returning to exercise but was in so much pain i stopped. It has eased slightly this week but wondered if you recovered?

Has anyone else experienced a long term negative result

There is nothing i can find to suggest that it does but my experience seems far from the ordinary