Padel Injuries and PRP in London: The Injuries Padel Causes Most and What the Evidence Supports
Padel has become London's fastest-growing racket sport, and it has a predictable injury signature. Studies of amateur padel players in Spain, where the sport is decades ahead of the UK, consistently find the same three sites injured most: the outside of the elbow, the knee and the shoulder, with the Achilles tendon close behind (Castillo-Lozano and Casuso-Holgado, Science & Sports, 2017). Most are overuse injuries, not accidents, which means most can be treated without surgery if they are assessed early.
Where an injury has become a stubborn tendon problem, platelet-rich plasma is one of the options with genuine trial evidence behind it for some sites, and weaker evidence for others. Both facts are below. Joint and tendon PRP at the clinic is £750 a session.
Arrange a consultation on WhatsApp | Call 020 3951 3429 | team@thewellnesslondon.com
The injuries padel actually causes
Padel elbow. The enclosed court rewards a short, wristy swing played at volume, and the backhand flick loads the wrist extensors exactly as a tennis backhand does, producing the same lateral epicondylalgia. In the Spanish amateur studies this is the single most common padel injury.
The knee. Constant low ready-position, lateral shuffling and hard direction changes load the kneecap tendon (patellar tendinopathy) and irritate the joint itself.
Shoulder and Achilles. Overhead bandejas and smashes load the rotator cuff; the stop-start sprint pattern loads the Achilles.
The pattern matters because the right treatment depends entirely on which structure is failing, and that is an examination and, where needed, an ultrasound or MRI question.
Where PRP has real evidence, and where it does not
Tennis elbow is the best-evidenced PRP indication in sport, and padel elbow is the same tendon problem. In a randomised controlled trial of 230 people with chronic lateral epicondylitis (Mishra and colleagues, American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2014), a single PRP injection produced significantly better pain and function scores than a control injection at 24 weeks. An earlier Dutch trial (Gosens and colleagues, American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2011) found PRP outperformed corticosteroid injection at two years, with the steroid group relapsing after early relief.
The honest counterweight: for the Achilles tendon, a randomised trial published in JAMA in 2021 found PRP no better than a sham injection for chronic mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy. For knee osteoarthritis and patellar tendinopathy the trial results are mixed. We will tell you plainly which side of the evidence your injury sits on before anyone charges you £750.
Send us where it hurts and how long it has been there | or call 020 3951 3429
What an assessment involves
Your first appointment is an examination, not an injection. We establish which structure is injured, how irritable it is, and what your training week looks like. Where the diagnosis is uncertain, ultrasound is the first imaging step, with MRI for the cases that need more. Many padel injuries settle with a modified load programme and a short block of targeted rehabilitation; we say so when that is the answer. Where PRP is the right tool, the injection is ultrasound-guided, and the plan around it, including return to court, is agreed before you book it.
Free checklist: get back on court faster
Stop the shot that hurts for two weeks, not the sport entirely. Most padel injuries tolerate low-load play.
Note exactly which movement triggers the pain: backhand, smash, push-off, or landing. It halves the diagnostic time.
Ice is fine for comfort; complete rest is rarely the treatment for a tendon.
Do not chase a corticosteroid injection for an elbow you want to keep playing on; the 2011 trial showed early relief followed by relapse compared with PRP.
Book an assessment before week six. Tendons treated early need less done to them.
When it is not us
A pop with immediate swelling and an inability to bear weight, a suspected fracture, or a knee that locks need urgent assessment, and where imaging or a surgeon is the right first step we arrange the referral the same day. PRP is for tendon and joint problems that have outstayed conservative care, not for acute trauma.
Ready when you are: WhatsApp, call 020 3951 3429, or email team@thewellnesslondon.com
Frequently asked questions
Q: Does PRP work for padel elbow?
A: Padel elbow is the same lateral epicondylalgia as tennis elbow, the tendon problem with the strongest PRP evidence: a randomised trial of 230 people (Mishra, 2014) and a two-year trial against corticosteroid (Gosens, 2011) both favoured PRP.
Q: How much does PRP for a padel injury cost?
A: Joint and tendon PRP at The London PRP Clinic is £750 a session. How many sessions your injury needs is an assessment question, answered before you commit.
Q: Can I keep playing padel between sessions?
A: Usually a modified version, yes. Most tendon injuries tolerate reduced load, and keeping the tendon working within pain limits is part of the treatment, not a cheat.
Q: Is PRP better than a cortisone injection?
A: For lateral elbow pain, the two-year randomised evidence favours PRP: corticosteroid gave faster early relief but more relapse (Gosens, 2011). For other sites the answer differs, which is why assessment comes first.
References
Castillo-Lozano R, Casuso-Holgado MJ. Incidence and characteristics of injuries in amateur padel players. Science & Sports, 2017.
Mishra AK, et al. Efficacy of platelet-rich plasma for chronic tennis elbow: a double-blind, prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial of 230 patients. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2014.
Gosens T, et al. Ongoing positive effect of platelet-rich plasma versus corticosteroid injection in lateral epicondylitis: a double-blind randomized controlled trial with 2-year follow-up. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2011.
Boesen AP, et al. Effect of platelet-rich plasma injection vs sham injection on tendon dysfunction in patients with chronic midportion Achilles tendinopathy: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 2021.
Reviewed by The Wellness Clinical Team. Last updated 18 October 2026.