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Harness your body's natural healing processes AND get back to enjoying your active lifestyle.

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  • We are proud to offer our patients the best options for regaining their shoulder and arm strength.
    •  
  • Find out if platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy can help heal your painful tendons or ligaments.

To schedule a consultation, please call or contact Dr. Sohn's office, proudly serving the communities of San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Woods, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, Mission Viejo, Irvine, San Clemente, and Fountain Valley.
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ARE YOU A CANDIDATE FOR PLATELET RICH PLASMA THERAPY?

Elbow PRP FAQs

What is PRP?

PRP stands for platelet rich plasma. It is a cell therapy that concentrates the platelets and their associated healing factors from your own blood. PRP is helpful in healing damaged tissues such as tendons, ligaments, and the linings of joints.

How does PRP work?

Platelets are small blood cells that play a crucial role in wound healing and tissue repair. When a tissue is injured, platelets are the first to arrive at the site of injury. They contain alpha granules which can release various growth factors, including fibroblast growth factor (FGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), and other cytokines which promote healing and regeneration of the damaged tissue.

Platelets and PRP help to orchestrate an incredibly elegant and complicated series of steps some of which are pro-inflammatory, and others that are anti-inflammatory. It is these orderly steps that cause the body to heal damaged tissues like tendon and the lining of joints.

What does a PRP injection involve?

The PRP procedure involves drawing about 3-4 ounces of the patient's blood and processing it in a centrifuge machine to separate the platelets from other blood components. The concentrated platelets, which are now enriched with healing factors, are then injected into the damaged area of the tendon or ligament.

What are the benefits of PRP?

PRP therapy offers several benefits over traditional treatments for tendon injuries. It is a safe procedure because it uses the patient's own blood, eliminating the risk of an adverse reaction or infection. Additionally, PRP injections stimulate natural healing processes, leading to faster and more complete recovery. Other treatments like cortisone injections may give short term relief but long term, they may make the problem worse.

PRP has been studied extensively and compared to various other treatments including cortisone injections and surgery. It has been shown in most studies to be both safe and effective. See the links below for some summary reports on the latest scientific studies on PRP use in elbow conditions.

PRP Tennis Elbow Evidence Sheet

Is PRP covered by insurance?

  • In general, insurance companies and Medicare do not pay for PRP injections. They are still considered experimental by most insurance companies. This may change in the future since recent meta-analysis studies show support for PRP safety and effectiveness. Tricare covers PRP for lateral epicondylitis of the elbow (tennis elbow) as well as for knee arthritis but not for any other diagnoses such as medial epicondylitis (golfer’s elbow).

How much does PRP cost (elbow)?

  • Our packages, tailored to the number of body parts treated, falls within the range of $1500 to $2250. This includes:
  • High concentration PRP preparation. This is the core of our treatment. Without adequate concentration, results are less predictable. We also use a proprietary blend to maximize healing while decreasing the discomfort of the injection.
  • Ultrasound guidance for the injection. This helps to ensure accurate placement of the PRP into the damaged areas.
  • A special needling technique that improves the healing factor penetration into damaged tissue
  • High potency Vitamin C supplements
  • Companion videos for the busy person. This includes 12 weeks of exercises that can be done at home in lieu of formal physical therapy.
  • You may drive yourself to and from your appointment. If you wish, we can provide Lyft Health for transportation. This is included in your treatment cost.
  • 12 week followup visit in person.
  • Soft tissue scraper tool and essential oil for use with the companion videos. (While supplies last).

Are PRP injections painful?

  • While they are nowhere near as painful as surgery, PRP injections stimulate a very powerful healing and inflammatory response. This process involves a fair amount of swelling and pain in the initial days after the injection. In order to reduce the pain of the injection, we place local anesthetic in the area prior to the PRP injection.

Are there any special things I should do before my PRP injection?

  • You should make sure you are well hydrated for your PRP injection day. We need to draw over 100ml of blood in order to get the highest platelet concentration.
  • Avoid any heavy or fatty foods 1-2 days prior to the PRP treatment.
  • Wait at least 4 weeks after a cortisone injection (if you have had any).
  • Discontinue any anti-inflammatory medication for 2-3 weeks before the injection. It is safe to restart these medications 6 weeks after the injection. Medications in this category include Aspirin, Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), Naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve), Meloxicam (Mobic), Celebrex (Celecoxib), or Indomethacin. If you are unsure about whether your medications are ok, please ask us.
  • If you would like, we can prescribe an oral sedative like Xanax to help reduce discomfort. If so, you must have someone else drive you. If you can’t find a ride, we will use Lyft-Health to arrange your ride. If you do not want the sedative, you may drive yourself home afterward.

Do PRP injections have any associated risks?

  • Any time we inject a body part, we can introduce skin bacteria which could cause an infection. This is very rare since we use sterile technique.
  • Our preparation and centrifuge kits are self-contained which also prevents contamination of fluids from another person. We use safety checks including asking you to read your name label on the syringe before injecting the PRP back into you. All of these steps ensure that you are safe from disease transmission.
  • Excessive and untreated pain from an injection can lead to nerve irritation, also known as complex regional pain syndrome. This can be prevented by using vitamin C as well as following our instructions on nerve desensitization.
Shoulder PRP FAQs

What is PRP?

PRP stands for platelet rich plasma. It is a cell therapy that concentrates the platelets and their associated healing factors from your own blood. PRP is helpful in healing damaged tissues such as tendons, ligaments, and the linings of joints.

How does PRP work?

Platelets are small blood cells that play a crucial role in wound healing and tissue repair. When a tissue is injured, platelets are the first to arrive at the site of injury. They contain alpha granules which can release various growth factors, including fibroblast growth factor (FGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), and other cytokines which promote healing and regeneration of the damaged tissue.

Platelets and PRP help to orchestrate an incredibly elegant and complicated series of steps some of which are pro-inflammatory, and others that are anti-inflammatory. It is these orderly steps that cause the body to heal damaged tissues like tendon and the lining of joints.

What does a PRP injection involve?

The PRP procedure involves drawing about 3-4 ounces of the patient's blood and processing it in a centrifuge machine to separate the platelets from other blood components. The concentrated platelets, which are now enriched with healing factors, are then injected into the damaged area of the tendon or ligament.

What are the benefits of PRP?

PRP therapy offers several benefits over traditional treatments for tendon injuries. It is a safe procedure because it uses the patient's own blood, eliminating the risk of an adverse reaction or infection. Additionally, PRP injections stimulate natural healing processes, leading to faster and more complete recovery. Other treatments like cortisone injections may give short term relief but long term, they may make the problem worse.

PRP has been studied extensively and compared to various other treatments including cortisone injections and surgery. It has been shown in most studies to be both safe and effective. See the links below for some summary reports on the latest scientific studies on PRP use in shoulder conditions.

PRP RCT Evidence Sheet

Is PRP covered by insurance?

  • In general, insurance companies and Medicare do not pay for PRP injections. They are still considered experimental by most insurance companies. This may change in the future since recent meta-analysis studies show support for PRP safety and effectiveness. Tricare covers PRP for lateral epicondylitis of the elbow (tennis elbow) as well as for knee arthritis but not for any other diagnoses such as rotator cuff damage or shoulder arthritis.

How much does PRP cost (shoulder)?

  • Our packages, tailored to the number of body parts treated, falls within the range of $1600 to $2400. This includes:
  • High concentration PRP preparation. This is the core of our treatment. Without adequate concentration, results are less predictable. We also use a proprietary blend to maximize healing while decreasing the discomfort of the injection.
  • Ultrasound guidance for the injection. This helps to ensure accurate placement of the PRP into the damaged areas.
  • Hyaluronic acid injection. This has been shown to improve results. However, we do not use this if you have allergies to eggs or chicken products.
  • High potency Vitamin C supplement
  • Companion videos for the busy person. This includes 12 weeks of exercises that can be done at home in lieu of formal physical therapy.
  • You may drive yourself to and from your appointment. If you wish, we can provide Lyft Health for transportation. This is included in your treatment cost.
  • 12 week followup visit in person.

Are PRP injections painful?

  • While they are nowhere near as painful as surgery, PRP injections stimulate a very powerful healing and inflammatory response. This process involves a fair amount of swelling and pain in the initial days after the injection. In order to reduce the pain of the injection, we place local anesthetic in the area prior to the PRP injection.

Are there any special things I should do before my PRP injection?

  • You should make sure you are well hydrated for your PRP injection day. We need to draw over 100ml of blood in order to get the highest platelet concentration.
  • Avoid any heavy or fatty foods 1-2 days prior to the PRP treatment.
  • Wait at least 4 weeks after a cortisone injection (if you have had any).
  • Discontinue any anti-inflammatory medication for 2-3 weeks before the injection. It is safe to restart these medications 6 weeks after the injection. Medications in this category include Aspirin, Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), Naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve), Meloxicam (Mobic), Celebrex (Celecoxib), or Indomethacin. If you are unsure about whether your medications are ok, please ask us.
  • If you would like, we can prescribe an oral sedative like Xanax to help reduce discomfort. If so, you must have someone else drive you. If you can’t find a ride, we will use Lyft-Health to arrange your ride. If you do not want the sedative, you may drive yourself home afterward.

Do PRP injections have any associated risks?

  • Any time we inject a body part, we can introduce skin bacteria which could cause an infection. This is very rare since we use sterile technique.
  • Our preparation and centrifuge kits are self-contained which also prevents contamination of fluids from another person. We use safety checks including asking you to read your name label on the syringe before injecting the PRP back into you. All of these steps ensure that you are safe from disease transmission.
  • Excessive and untreated pain from an injection can lead to nerve irritation, also known as complex regional pain syndrome. This can be prevented by using vitamin C as well as following our instructions on nerve desensitization.
  • Stiffness of the shoulder can develop after a PRP injection due to disuse. In order to prevent this, we prescribe physical therapy which can be started 1 week after the injection. We also have a companion series of videos for the busy person which can be done in lieu of physical therapy.

Board Certified Providers

Roger Sohn MD
Roger c. Sohn, MD
Board Certified Orthopaedic SurgeonShoulder And Upper Limb Specialist
Theresa Ho, PAC
Theresa Ho, PAC
Board Certified PAC Shoulder and Upper Limb Specialist

Our Locations

San Juan Capistrano
31920 Del Obispo St.,
Suite 170
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
Fountain Valley
9940 Talbert Ave
Suite 202
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
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