PRP & Shoulder Pain

PRP for Shoulder Pain: Is It Right for You?

By Dr. Victor Chan, ND  |  SCIMEDICA Health Group, South Surrey

Shoulder pain has a way of taking over your life. It's not just the sharp catch when you reach overhead or the dull ache that keeps you up at night — it's the things you stop doing. You stop lifting weights. You stop reaching for things on high shelves. You stop throwing a ball with your kids. You sleep on one side because the other one screams at you. Eventually you stop thinking about what your shoulder used to be able to do, and start organizing your life around what it can't.

If you've been dealing with shoulder pain for months — or years — and conventional approaches haven't given you lasting relief, you're not alone. Shoulder injuries are among the most common musculoskeletal complaints, and they're notoriously slow to heal on their own because the shoulder joint has an enormous range of motion and relatively limited blood supply to key structures like the rotator cuff tendons.

Why Shoulder Pain Is So Stubborn

The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body, and that mobility comes at a cost. The rotator cuff — a group of four muscles and tendons that stabilize the joint — is under constant mechanical stress, especially in people who are active, do overhead work, or play sports. Over time, these tendons can develop micro-tears, inflammation, and degeneration. Unlike muscles, tendons have a relatively poor blood supply, which means they heal slowly and often incompletely.

This is why cortisone injections provide temporary relief but the pain keeps coming back — cortisone reduces inflammation, but it doesn't address the underlying tissue damage. In fact, repeated cortisone injections into tendons may weaken the tissue over time, potentially making the problem worse.

Physiotherapy strengthens the surrounding muscles and can improve movement patterns, but if the tendon itself is damaged, strengthening alone may not be enough. Many people reach a plateau with physio where the pain improves but never fully resolves.

How PRP May Help Shoulder Pain

PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) therapy takes a different approach. Instead of suppressing inflammation or working around the damaged tissue, PRP is designed to support the body's natural repair process at the site of injury. A small sample of your blood is drawn, processed in a centrifuge to concentrate the platelets and growth factors, and then injected directly into the damaged tissue — whether that's a rotator cuff tendon, the labrum, the biceps tendon, or the joint capsule itself.

The concentrated growth factors in PRP are designed to stimulate cell proliferation, collagen production, and tissue remodelling — the same processes your body uses to heal injuries, but at a higher concentration delivered precisely where it's needed.

PRP is not a guaranteed fix, and results vary depending on the severity of the injury, the patient's overall health, and the specific structures involved. But for many patients with partial rotator cuff tears, chronic tendinopathy, and shoulder impingement, PRP may offer meaningful improvement in pain and function — particularly when other conservative treatments have plateaued.

Common Shoulder Conditions Where PRP May Be Appropriate

Dr. Vic sees patients with a wide range of shoulder conditions at SCIMEDICA Health Group. PRP therapy may be worth exploring if you're dealing with rotator cuff tendinopathy or partial tears, shoulder impingement syndrome, chronic biceps tendinopathy, frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) — particularly in the later stages, labral tears (non-surgical candidates), AC joint pain, or chronic shoulder bursitis that hasn't responded to conservative treatment.

PRP is generally not appropriate for complete rotator cuff tears that require surgical repair, or for acute fractures. Dr. Vic will assess your specific condition — including reviewing any imaging you have — before recommending whether PRP is the right approach.

What a PRP Session for Shoulder Pain Looks Like

The procedure takes about 45–60 minutes at SCIMEDICA Health Group in South Surrey. Dr. Vic draws a small blood sample, processes it in a centrifuge to concentrate the platelets, and then injects the PRP into the specific structures in the shoulder that need support. The injection is guided by anatomical landmarks and Dr. Vic's extensive experience with shoulder anatomy.

Most patients describe the injection as moderate discomfort that lasts a few seconds. There's no general anaesthesia and no surgery. You can drive yourself home afterward. Some soreness at the injection site is normal for 2–5 days as the healing response activates — this is expected and is actually a sign that the PRP is working as intended.

Most patients notice gradual improvement over 4–8 weeks, with continued progress over several months. Depending on the severity of the condition, 1–3 PRP sessions may be recommended, spaced several weeks apart.

Why Patients Choose Dr. Vic for Shoulder PRP

Dr. Vic has over 20 years of experience performing regenerative injection therapies, including thousands of PRP, Prolotherapy, and Prolozone injections for musculoskeletal conditions. His background in sports medicine means he understands shoulder biomechanics and the specific demands that active people place on their joints.

He also takes a root-cause approach — looking beyond the shoulder itself to understand metabolic, nutritional, and inflammatory factors that may be affecting your healing. A shoulder injection works better when the rest of your body is functioning well too. For patients who may benefit, Dr. Vic also offers IV nutrient therapy to support recovery and overall metabolic health.

No referral is needed. Patients come from White Rock, South Surrey, Langley, Delta, and throughout the Lower Mainland.