Autologous Blood Injection - Melbourne Radiology Clinic

[Lisa]

Hi guys
Has anyone had one of these and if so, how soon were you back exercising (for Achilles Tendinopathy) - was it effective?. thanks!

[notadoc]

Hi Lisa,

I've had blood injections at the same clinic, so I imagine it's a similar experience. I think it all depends on the state of the tendon, but I was quite conservative in my rehab afterwards - I wanted to get everything right first time without any flare-ups. I took basically a whole week out from working that area. After that I took around 3-4 weeks and gradually increased my loading till I was 'back to normal' around six weeks out. This might be overly cautious, but it worked for me. Speak to the doc at the clinic, once he has a look at the condition of the tendon he should be able to recommend something - or your referring doc.

I did experience a bit of pain afterwards, although it was very short-lasting. Having spoken to a few different sources on the topic it sounds like the 'pain flare', as they call it, is just part of the blood injection process.

Best of luck!

ps. Forgot to mention, tendon is at full strength! Great outcome, but I do know there's debate as to whether it's the blood or the act of injection that does the work. All I can say is that I was quite happy with the results.

[Lisa]

Hey notadoc - thanks for your reply, just what I was hoping to hear - never appreciated my achilles 'till it got hurt!! Lisa

[Lisa]

Hey, had the PRP (instead of the ABI) procedure 7 days ago at this clinic..... finally, after 7 months or chronic achilles problems, much expenditure on things that didn't work (orthotics, acupuncture, massage, the usual protocol of eccentric stretches) and angst, I am pain-free. I know there are some negative comments about this procedure, but I can say for me, it has worked amazingly well - am taking the rehab slowly and following the recommendations exactly. Really recommend this clinic - easy to book, quick procedure (the worst part was the local anaesthetic, wasn't painless, but would go through it again in a blink of an eye to get this positive outcome). Really helpfull and professional staff!