06 — Regenerative · Lubbock, TX

PRP & Regenerative Medicine — Treatment Plus The Rehab That Makes It Work

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy concentrates the platelets from your own blood and injects them into an injured tendon, ligament, or joint to concentrate growth factors at the site. At Pinnacle Performance & Wellness in Lubbock, Texas, PRP is prescribed by Stuart Riggins, FNP-C, after evaluation — and paired with a loading program run by Pinnacle's Doctors of Physical Therapy in the same building, which is what turns an injection into an outcome.

Evaluation FirstRehab Built InWest TexasQuote Before Procedure

Medically reviewed by Stuart Riggins, FNP-C — Pinnacle Performance & Wellness, Lubbock, TX

Clinician administering an ultrasound-guided regenerative injection to a patient's shoulder

The Basics

What PRP Actually Is

Blood is drawn from your arm, spun in a centrifuge to separate the platelet-rich fraction from red cells and most plasma, and that concentrate is injected into the target tissue — usually under ultrasound guidance for accuracy. Platelets carry growth factors involved in the body's own repair signaling. Concentrating them at a site that has poor blood supply, which describes most tendons, is the mechanistic rationale.

It is your own blood, so allergic reaction and rejection are not concerns. The realistic risk profile is what you would expect from any injection: soreness for a few days, bruising, small infection risk, and the possibility that it does not work for you.

About PRP. Platelet-rich plasma is prepared from your own blood. It is not FDA-approved for most orthopedic indications. Evidence quality varies by condition and is stronger for some applications, such as certain tendinopathies and knee osteoarthritis, than for others. Individual results vary and are not guaranteed.

Straight Answers

Where The Evidence Is Stronger, And Where It Is Weaker

Most clinics selling PRP present it as uniformly effective. It is not, and you should hear that from the clinic taking your money.

ConditionEvidenceRealistic expectation
Lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow)Among the better-supported usesOften meaningful improvement, typically over 2–3 months
Knee osteoarthritis (mild to moderate)Reasonable support, mixed across trialsSymptom relief for a period of months; not cartilage regrowth
Patellar and Achilles tendinopathyMixed; results improve when combined with loadingRequires an eccentric loading program to be worth doing
Rotator cuff tendinopathy (partial)MixedReasonable option before considering surgery, not a substitute for one where structural repair is needed
Full-thickness tears, advanced bone-on-bone arthritisWeakWe will tell you it is not the right treatment

If your presentation sits in the bottom row, the recommendation here is a referral or a different plan — not an injection you paid for that was never going to work.

The Difference

The Part Most PRP Clinics Skip

An injection changes the biological environment for a window of time. It does not change how you load the tissue, and the loading is what remodels it. A tendon that was failing under demand before the injection will fail again after it unless the demand or the capacity changes.

This is where Pinnacle's structure matters more than any single treatment. Your PRP is scheduled with a rehab program built around it: relative rest for the first days, then progressive loading through the healing timeline, run by a DPT down the hall who can see the injection site, knows the protocol, and progresses you on measured criteria. A standalone injection clinic hands you a post-procedure sheet and books your follow-up. That is the difference between the two models, and it is the reason this service exists inside an integrated clinic.

The Process

What The Process Looks Like

  1. Evaluation

    History, physical examination, review of imaging, and a determination of whether PRP is actually the right tool. Some patients are told it is not.

  2. Plan

    Target tissue, number of injections expected, the rehab timeline, and total cost, quoted before you commit.

  3. Procedure day

    Blood draw, centrifuge processing, and injection, typically 45–60 minutes in clinic. Anti-inflammatories are generally stopped beforehand because they blunt the intended response; your provider will give you exact instructions.

  4. First 72 hours

    Expect soreness at the site. That is anticipated, not a complication.

  5. Rehab

    The loading program starts on schedule with your Pinnacle DPT.

  6. Reassessment

    Most patients are assessed at 6 and 12 weeks. Response is usually gradual rather than immediate, and a second injection is sometimes indicated.

Per-injection and PRP-plus-rehab package pricing, quoted in full before scheduling. Most insurers do not cover PRP anywhere — cash price vs cash price.

Book A Consult

Common Questions

PRP FAQ

How much does a PRP injection cost in Lubbock?
PRP at Pinnacle is priced per injection, with packages covering multiple injections or PRP combined with a rehabilitation program. You receive a full quote before anything is scheduled. Most insurance plans do not cover PRP for orthopedic conditions anywhere in the country, so a cash price here is not a penalty relative to a hospital or orthopedic practice — it is generally the same out-of-pocket situation with a different level of coordination. HSA and FSA cards are accepted and superbills are provided for out-of-network submission. If the evaluation shows PRP is not appropriate for your condition, you pay for the evaluation and not the injection.
Does PRP actually work?
For some conditions, with meaningful evidence behind it; for others, the data is genuinely mixed, and for a few it does not. The stronger support sits with lateral epicondylitis, mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis, and certain tendinopathies when combined with a progressive loading program. Support is weaker for full-thickness tears and advanced bone-on-bone arthritis, where PRP will not restore structure. Response is usually gradual over six to twelve weeks rather than immediate, and a proportion of patients do not respond. Pinnacle will tell you which category your condition sits in during the evaluation, including when the honest answer is that the money is better spent elsewhere.
How long does PRP take to work, and how many injections will I need?
Most patients notice change gradually between weeks four and twelve rather than in the first days — the mechanism is a repair response, not an anti-inflammatory effect, so there is no immediate relief the way there is with a corticosteroid injection. Many conditions are treated with a single injection followed by structured rehabilitation; some tendinopathies and knee presentations respond better to a series of two or three, spaced several weeks apart. The plan is set at the evaluation and revised at your six-week reassessment based on actual response. Rehab runs throughout, because loading during the healing window is what converts the biological response into tissue that tolerates demand.
Is PRP better than a cortisone shot?
They do different things, and the right choice depends on what you need. A corticosteroid injection is a potent anti-inflammatory that typically produces faster relief, which matters when pain is severe or you need to function immediately. Its drawback is that repeated steroid injections can have negative effects on tendon and cartilage tissue over time. PRP aims at a repair response instead of suppression, works slowly, and does not carry that tissue concern — but is less reliable for fast symptom relief and costs more. For an acute flare where you need to sleep this week, steroid may be right. For a chronic tendinopathy you intend to load and rehabilitate, PRP fits the goal better. This gets decided at the evaluation.
What should I avoid before and after a PRP injection?
Before the procedure, you will generally be asked to stop NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and naproxen for a period beforehand, since they blunt the inflammatory signaling PRP is intended to trigger. Stay well hydrated, and eat before the blood draw. Afterward, expect soreness at the injection site for two to five days — that is the expected response, not a complication — and use acetaminophen or ice for comfort rather than NSAIDs during the early window. Avoid heavy loading of the treated tissue for the first several days, then begin the loading program your DPT prescribed on schedule. Your provider gives you exact timeframes, because they differ by tissue and by injection site.
Related care under the same roof: The rehab program that runs alongside your injection — Physical Therapy. Systemic recovery protocols are evaluated separately — Peptide Therapy. Return to loading after tissue healing — Performance Training.

Book A Consult   (806) 808-0606 · 8347 Upland Avenue, Lubbock, TX 79424

West Texas’s integrated human performance and wellness center. Clinical precision. Athletic methodology. One system.

8347 Upland Ave · Lubbock, TX 79424

(806) 808-0606

[email protected]

Office hours:

Monday to Thursday: 8am - 5pm

Friday: 8am to 12pm

Saturday: By appointment

Sunday: Closed

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Disclaimer

All information on this website is intended for instruction and informational purposes only. The authors are not responsible for any harm or injury that may result. Significant injury risk is possible if you do not follow due diligence and seek suitable professional advice about your injury. No guarantees of specific results are expressly made or implied on this website.