Is knee PRP helping? Keep a progress diary that means something
How can I tell whether knee PRP is helping?
Agree what improvement would matter before treatment and record it consistently afterwards. Pain, everyday function and quality of life are more useful than a vague promise to feel younger. A diary helps you and the clinician discuss change. It does not prove that PRP caused the change or that cartilage has regrown.
Choose your own meaningful tasks
Before treatment, choose two or three everyday activities that your knee limits: a usual walk, getting up from a chair or using stairs, for example. Record what you can do without deliberately provoking pain. Keep the task and conditions reasonably similar when you review it. Do not turn a measurement into a challenge or ignore your rehabilitation advice.
Keep the record short enough to use
A useful entry can include the date, pain during your chosen activity on the same zero-to-ten scale, how much of the activity you managed, swelling or stiffness, and any relevant changes in treatment or activity. Note unusually heavy exercise, a flare or an illness. This is a practical personal record, not a validated clinical score. Ask the clinician whether a validated questionnaire would be useful as well.
Agree the review point, not a guaranteed deadline
Ask when your clinician plans to assess your response and what would count as worthwhile improvement. Do not buy extra sessions automatically because a social-media timetable says you should. NICE guidance on knee PRP asks clinicians to audit outcomes and calls for research using validated measures of knee function and patient-reported outcomes. That is different from promising every patient a particular percentage improvement. [1]
Discuss an assessment on WhatsApp
Why the evidence needs that care
NICE says there are no major safety concerns in the current evidence on knee PRP, but efficacy evidence is limited in quality and special arrangements for governance, consent and audit or research are needed. European expert guidance is more positive about selected mild-to-moderate knee osteoarthritis, while acknowledging variation between studies and protocols. Both the uncertainties and the potential benefit belong in the consent discussion. [1,2]
Keep the rest of your care in view
NICE osteoarthritis guidance places therapeutic exercise and, where appropriate, weight management at the centre of care. A change in walking, rehabilitation, medicine or weight can affect how the knee feels. Record these changes rather than treating every good or bad day as the injection alone. PRP is not a reason to abandon an agreed exercise plan. [3]
When the diary should give way to assessment
If you develop a hot, markedly swollen joint, fever or sudden severe deterioration, seek urgent medical assessment rather than waiting for your next diary entry. After a procedure, follow the clinic's written safety and contact advice. Routine progress tracking is not a substitute for assessment of a possible complication. [3]
Make the consultation worth having
Ask The London PRP Clinic by The Wellness to discuss whether your knee diagnosis is suitable for PRP, what alternatives remain and how any benefit would be measured. Bring a short baseline record if you have one. A useful plan includes a review and an honest decision about whether to continue, change approach or stop.
Enquiry links
Ask The Wellness team on WhatsApp or email the team.
Sources
General information, not individual medical advice. Evidence checked as of October 2026.