Patient Story
Pain-Free Without a Hip Replacement
Summary
Michael, a construction worker and father of three, was told he needed a new hip. He chose PRP at Med Matrix instead and says he has been pain-free since about six months in. Before that he could not walk without pain, felt like the hip was going to pop out, could not do stairs, and says a day carrying a child around the fair meant about three weeks of babying his hip. He was told he broke his hip, that the socket was egged out, that the cushion on top of the femur was torn, and that any surgical repair would immediately tear again. He had learned about PRP from a hand surgeon who operated on him when he was young, found Med Matrix through what he thinks was a Facebook ad, and came in with what he describes as a more invasive treatment in mind before the team suggested starting with PRP. About ten months in, he says he has not had a PRP shot in his hip in about three months, can do everything now, and the shoulder is next.
Before Med Matrix
- Has worked construction his whole life and is a dad with three kids
- A torn something in his hip, in his words, plus shoulder pain: debilitating, could not walk without pain, felt like the hip was going to pop out, and it was seriously affecting his ability to be active with his children and to work
- Stairs were impossible, and carrying his son or daughter around the fair all day on his shoulder meant about three weeks of babying his hip before he could remotely walk again
- Lived with a list of don'ts (don't move this way, don't carry this) and had to plan everything around the injury, down to being conscious of how he walked
- Was told he broke his hip, that the socket is egged out, that the cushion on top of the femur is torn, and that a surgical repair of that cushion would just tear again because everything is at the wrong angle
- Told he needed a new hip
- Says his primary care provider, a man, does not want to hear about guy stuff, and that saying certain things in a normal doctor's office gets you looked at like you are kind of crazy
- Already knew about PRP as an alternative to surgery from a hand surgeon who operated on him when he was young; he would have gone to that surgeon's practice, but the surgeon had retired
Results
- Says he has been pain-free since about 6 months in ("pain-free literally", in his words); about 10 months in at the time of filming
- Says he has not had a PRP shot in his hip in about 3 months
- Says he can do everything now, walks without having to be conscious of how he is walking, and no longer plans everything around an injury or factors in how not to hurt himself more
- Says PRP was Plan A and the hip replacement is still there as Plan B if PRP ever fails, and that Plan A seems to be working. Says that if he had listened to the doctor he would be one surgery down and on his way to a number of hip replacements over his life, with PRP no longer an option
- Describes the PRP as unreal
- Says the money spent here was not the most cost-effective thing by any means, and that the rewards have been priceless; would do it over and over, for the rest of his life
Key Quotes
“I mean, if I would go to the fair and carry my son or my daughter around all day on my shoulder, that That be like 3 weeks of babying my hip before I could like remotely walk again. I mean stairs, impossible.”
“What's also kind of crazy is that if I had just listened to the doctor, I'd be one surgery down. I'd have a hip replacement in there. You know, we'd be on our way to a number of hip replacements throughout my life because they only last for so long and PRP would no longer be an option.”
“You can live pain-free without drugs and without surgery, and I don't know what more you can really ask for.”
“And you know, this is not the most cost-effective thing by any means, but the rewards from the money that I've spent here is just literally priceless.”
