Week 4

This has been an interesting week. I've had some good days and some bad. At the moment my left knee feels a bit stiff and tender in comparison to the right. It's got a kind of constant ache, perhaps this is due to the inflammation and the biological changes taking place within the tendon?

I attempted an easy 1km run today, the left tendon flared up a bit after a few 100 metres. However, the left tendon is not sore in comparison to the right when going up or down stairs and no longer seems to have the 'sharp' pain that has bothered me for the past 1.5 years.

The tendon as at it's most painful first thing in the morning and then once it warms up a bit it feels better than the right knee. I've had periods when there is absolutely no pain in the left knee and periods where it's noticeably more painful than the right knee. This could be the 'roller-coaster' effect I mentioned in Week 3.

I have continued with the Eccentric protocol on my right knee- 3 x 15 sets of one-legged squats on slant board at night. I have now reached 3kgs in the backpack. I have been doing about 10 dips on the left leg every second night, without any weights. My reasoning was that this would help direct the alignment of the collagen fibres in the tendon as it repairs.

I bought a foam roller yesterday, I have done a bit of this, but I'm now going to try and do 3 mins of rolling on each leg every second night.

I have currently been taking:

• MSM
• Glucosamine
• Chondroitin
• Fish Liver Oil
• Vitamin C
• Gellatine

In Week 2 I discussed the testimonial about the patient who was dissappointed and complained to his Doc that the PRP Injection did nothing after one month, and by 2 months he was completely healed and his knee felt 100%. So I'm going to give it more time and try take it easy. The Platelets are active for 6 weeks and the healing benefits of PRP continue for up to 6 - 9 months.

I'm PRP shot to my right knee on Monday.

Week 3

My tendon has continued its positive healing progress, and I've only had one bad day this week. Currently my knee feels better than it did before the PRP injection and there hasn't been any regression in pain. Its basically gone from the 70% it was at previously to 80%. When I straighten my leg and flex my quad muscle there is minimal pain, whereas before this would have caused a sharp pain sensation in my left tendon. The tendon itself still feels quite hard and doesn't seem to have as many bumps (I think this is the scar tissue and misaligned collagen).

I have done a few light sets of eccentric single-legged squats on a slant board and these are still quite uncomfortable on my knee. I also went for a fairly strenuous 8km mountain bike on Monday and my knee didn't feel too bad, not completely healed, but not painful. 

When I tried a light 300m jog today my left knee felt alright while my right knee had the familiar sharp pain sensation that I had before on the left knee whenever I pushed off from the ground or landed. One thing that I have noted is that my left knee feels a lot tighter and stiffer in comparison to the right, perhaps it's due to a bit of inflammation or the healing process happening in the tendon? However the chronic sharp pain I used to experience running or going upstairs seems to have subsided in the left knee.

The progress is slow and gradual as I expected, but if it continues I will be happy. I am going to go for a PRP shot in the right knee in 2 weeks. And then a follow up the PRP injection in my left knee in a month's time.

I hope that if you are considering a PRP Injection for a tendonopathy or are currently recovering from one, that you are finding this blog useful. If you have any questions, queries or comments feel free to post them below or email.

(Rafa Nadal just won Roland Garos after pulling out of the Miami Open in April due to knee pain, for which he had a PRP Injection. It seemed to sort him out again!)

Week 2

Two whole weeks have passed since my own blood was sucked out, spun around and then injected back into my left tendon. The first week my tendon felt a bit swollen, but strangely not too painful. The injection is supposed to take from 2 - 6 weeks to work, and at 2 weeks post-PRP injection my tendon feels kind of where it was before the injection. I have had some good days and some bad days, I have read that this 'roller'coaster' effect is to be expected and slowly there are gradually more 'good' days. My left tendon definitely feels alot harder and firmer than it did before and in comparison to the right tendon. This leads me to believe that some structural change is happening, that the tendon is strengthening and that the collagen is reorganizing correctly. However, after the initial pain relief and the regression back to my previous level of pain I feel slightly disappointed. Although I know I need to give it time and can't make a call on it's success just yet.


I just stumbled on this testimonial on the net, which has given me some hope and encouragement to be patient...


I saw the doctor 4 weeks post procedure and I told him I was very disappointed. I told him that I did not feel any improvement and my patella tendon still felt weak. At the 8 week appointment I told him it might be better but I wasn’t sure. He told me that sometimes it could take up to 6-9 months. He was exactly right. My knee is now 100% better than it was. About 6 months post the injection is when I really noticed the improvement in my knee. I no longer had pain upon jumping or running. I went from not being able to run without pain or discomfort to now I try to run twice a week 3-6 miles and play basketball once a week. It has been a truly amazing turnaround for me that I never thought would happen. For 2 years I dealt with this chronic injury and I never thought I would feel better. I had seen many doctors and lost hope until I found Dr. Michael Shepard.
[source: http://prptreatments.org/category/patient-experiences/]


I have been trying my best not to exercise too heavily, just some swimming and light upper body weights, along with some gentle leg rehab. I will go for a relaxed cycle tomorrow afternoon and see how it feels.