Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy
 

Anyone had this done for neuropathy. My cousin told her foot doctor about my condition and he suggested I go see him. (The Doc that is) She called it a symphony shot. I guess they draw your blood and take stuff out and mix it with some chemical and inject it back in to you. It has been used by athletes for a variety of foot pain. It costs about 1000 dollars and insurance does not usually cover it. I haven't seen this subject on the boards. Mrs. D found this link http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/0...y-really-work/

As we discussed in PMs... this treatment started out with a big fan fare... and with time the improvements were sketchy.

It is actually a form of prolotherapy, where a person's own platelets are concentrated from the blood and reinjected into the injured site. Some famous athletes, including Tiger Woods, have tried this treatment.

For PN I would ask this question:
Exactly where should this be injected? Since PN can be referred pain from the spine, hip, or knee, when feet are concerned.

Where in the foot would the injection go? There are many nerves in the foot.

The term "symphony shot" does not Google well.
The other name for this is P.R.P therapy...Platelet Rich Plasma therapy.

Keep in mind sterility must be kept intact because this is an invasive procedure and if done sloppily, infection could be likely and very damaging. This is a medical procedure that should be considered with great care IMO.

My cousin also said you have to stay in bed for i think four days after injection so it will stay where it's supposed to. I certainly don't like that.

Did your cousin have this done? Or just thinking about it still?

I'd wonder how the target would be chosen for PN.

This treatment is given to people with injuries, where the target is obvious.

After being involved with a multitude of these injections for various physicians as a rep. I figured I could toss in my 2 cents.

The term 'symphony shot' won't bring up much via google because symphony is an older name of one of the brands of platelet rich plasma. The more commonly used term is PRP injection.

About the injection itself.. It is more uncomfortable than a steroid shot. Just be aware of this going into it. Especially if it's being injected into a tendon. Don't plan on working the next day if you can avoid it. Remember you're creating a space in a tendon where there normally is no space.

As a patient ask your physician a couple of questions...
1. What is the concentration of growth factors / platelets in the product they use? There are actually some PRP's that only isolate the plasma(very low on growth factors) but are still sold as PRP and are rather inexpensive thus widely used. A platelet/GF concentration around 5-6x baseline is a good target for the premium PRP's. It's been presented that much more than that could possibly ramp up the discomfort afterwards.

2. Does your physician use ultrasound to locate the injury? Under ultrasound they can see exactly where the disruption is located and theoretically have a higher success rate post-injection. While this isn't mandatory as I've seen great success with and without ultrasound, it just seems more consistant results using it. (a potential cost increase)

Btw don't expect instant relief from this. Some injuries can require multiple injections and some patients find satisfaction with just shot. Either way you'll mumble curses about your doc due to discomfort.. But in this case pain really does equal gain, and if a couple of injections kept me out of the operating room then I'd be all the happier.

Best of luck to you

Thank you, BigE for coming here and explaining. Your post tells us much more than I could find searching PRP on the net.

This is a peripheral neuropathy forum, and I don't see how this treatment which is for soft tissue injury healing will help most of our posters here. Those with an injury induced nerve problem problem however, may be interested.

Does PRP work for long term back issues? Or is it mostly for injuries. What about old injuries? Seems to me an old injury site would have fibrosis or adhesions which may not respond to this treatment?

My cousin has not done this yet She has planters factious or whatever that is. I may visit this Doc at some point just to have him examine my feet and then I will ask specific questions.

Any updates ?

Ive been wondering how this might help someone where the nerve damage was more direct like with anosmia.

m

update
 

I believe my cousin did it and there didn't seem to be much result, however she has all kinds of other issues. I will try to get a more specific update. I have become very sceptical of doctors who say they can help you so flipantly. If I'm not mistaken her doctor wanted to try out some kind of surgery also.

I think your right, I dont know of anything that offers an outright cure and theres so many variables involved it makes it nightmare.

Did your cousin get stromal stell cells from her bone marrow, or adipose from fat ?

m