Do you need a referral for PRP injection?

Some clinics allow you to contact an orthopedic or sports-medicine service directly. Others ask for a referral from a family doctor, orthopedic surgeon, sports-medicine physician, or physiotherapist before booking. The assessing clinician should first confirm that your pain or injury has a clear working diagnosis and that PRP is a reasonable option. PRP uses a sample of your blood that is processed and injected into a selected area; it is not suitable for every condition or every person.

Call the clinic and ask whether self-booking is accepted, which specialty should make the referral, and whether recent scans or treatment notes are needed. Bring a list of medicines, allergies, bleeding problems, and previous injections. Tell the clinician about infection, fever, pregnancy, or medicines that affect clotting. Do not stop prescribed medicine without medical advice. A consultation may lead to a different treatment if the examination points to another cause of symptoms.

Seek urgent medical assessment for a painful joint or limb with marked swelling, redness, warmth, fever, or rapidly worsening movement. After any injection, urgent review is needed for increasing pain with fever, spreading redness, pus, breathing trouble, or swelling of the face or throat. New weakness, loss of bladder or bowel control, or numbness around the groin also needs immediate attention rather than a routine referral.

Ask: What diagnosis is the injection intended to treat? What alternatives should I consider? Which clinician will perform it, and what preparation is needed? How will we judge whether it helped, and what symptoms should make me call sooner?