PRP and Injection Treatment

Injection has a real but limited role in orthopedic care. Used with a clear purpose it can relieve pain, confirm a diagnosis, or make rehabilitation possible when pain is preventing it. Used as a default, it postpones a decision without changing anything.

We offer injections where the evidence supports them and say so where it does not.

Corticosteroid

The most established option, and the most misunderstood. Steroid reduces inflammation and can give substantial relief, often for weeks to months.

It is genuinely useful for inflammatory shoulder pain, for arthritis flares, and where pain is severe enough that you cannot participate in the rehabilitation that would actually improve things.

The caution is repetition. Repeated steroid into a tendon may weaken it, and frequent injection into an arthritic joint has been associated with faster cartilage loss. That is not a reason to avoid steroid, but it is a reason to use it deliberately, space it out, and be honest when it is being used to defer a decision rather than to achieve something.

Hyaluronic acid

Sometimes described as lubrication for the joint, most commonly used in the knee. The evidence is genuinely mixed: some patients report meaningful relief lasting several months, and pooled trial data show a smaller average effect than the marketing suggests.

It is most reasonable in mild to moderate knee arthritis in someone who is not ready for replacement and has not responded adequately to other measures. Coverage varies by insurer.

Platelet-rich plasma

PRP is made from your own blood. A sample is taken, spun to concentrate the platelets, and injected into the affected area. The rationale is that platelets carry growth factors that may support healing.

Where the evidence is reasonable: tennis elbow, where several trials favour PRP over steroid at longer follow-up, and mild to moderate knee arthritis, where a number of studies show benefit compared with hyaluronic acid.

Where it is weaker: most other indications, including rotator cuff tears and severe arthritis. The published research varies widely in preparation method and protocol, which makes results difficult to compare and is part of why the field remains unsettled.

The practical points: it is usually not covered by insurance, so it is an out-of-pocket cost. It commonly aches for a day or two afterwards. It is not a substitute for surgery where surgery is genuinely indicated, and it will not regrow a torn tendon or replace lost cartilage.

We will tell you honestly where your condition sits on that spectrum.

Image guidance

Injecting accurately matters, particularly in the shoulder and hip where blind injection frequently misses the intended target. Where accuracy affects the result, guidance is used.

Where injection is not the answer

• Where a mechanical problem needs fixing. An injection will not unlock a locked knee.
• Where the diagnosis is not established. Injecting before knowing what is wrong obscures the picture rather than clarifying it.
• Where surgery is clearly indicated and delay would make the result worse.
• Where the same injection has already been given repeatedly without lasting benefit. If it has not worked three times, the fourth is unlikely to be different, and the question should change.

What to expect

An injection is considered as part of a plan, not as the plan. You will be examined, the diagnosis established, and the injection discussed alongside what else needs to happen for the problem to actually improve.