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BPC oral vs inject for a niggling elbow tendon, what actually worked for you?

Posted by humbleomar229 in Healing & Recovery - 3 points, 5 comments.

Got a low grade medial epicondyle thing thats been hanging around for like 4 months now. Physio is helping but slowly. Been reading up on the oral arginate salt vs the injectable stuff and honestly im torn.

Injection goes straight to the issue but i cant say i love pinning daily for what might be an 8 week run. The oral form on the other hand is dead easy and theres the gut healing angle as a bonus, but everyones saying its weaker per mcg.

For anyone whos tried both on a tendon specifically, did the oral one actually move the needle for you or was it a waste. And did you stack it with anything or just run it solo. Not looking for a miracle, just want to know if its worth the convenience trade off or if im better off biting the bullet with the pin.

Comments

  • tiredmira: I've done both versions on a cranky wrist tendon last year, so I'll throw in my two cents. The oral arginate salt basically did nothing for me on the actual tendon. Maybe a tiny subjective bump but my grip strength numbers didn't budge. When I switched to the injectable, the difference was noticeable within like 3 weeks. Healing felt faster and my loading tolerance went up. I'd do the pin for something that's already been hanging around 4 months tbh. The convenience of oral is nice but if the
  • ethan_k: Yeah this matches what I saw too, more or less. The oral felt like it was doing something for my gut but my achilles tendon stayed exactly the same. Once I switched to the pin, around week 3 or 4 I could finally load it heavier in physio without it complaining. Four months is a long time to mess around with something that isnt healing, no? I would just bite the bullet and do the injections.
  • omar_squats: Yeah pretty much mirrored my experience with a nagging elbow a while back... Oral was a no go for the tendon itself, switched to the pin and it actually started to calm down. 4 months is a long time to mess around with it 🧪
  • humbleomar229: Cheers mate. Glad to know i am not just losing my mind thinking the oral stuff is useless for this. If you switched to the pin, did you just go straight to daily shots or did you try a specific frequency? I am leaning towards biting the bullet and just doing the pins since 4 months of this is starting to get proper annoying...
  • humbleomar229: Yeah 4 months has been a proper slog mate. It is starting to get a bit mental. If your achilles didn't budge with the oral stuff that is a massive hint for me. I reckon I will just bite the bullet and start the pins then. Did you find the injections themselves quite sore around the tendon or was it easy enough to get them in?
  • humbleomar229: That's a proper result for the wrist though, even if it's not what I wanted to hear for my elbow. If your grip strength didn't move at all on the oral version, that's a bit of a red flag for me. I reckon I'll just bite the bullet and go for the pin since this has been dragging on for months. Did you find the injections themselves a bit of a pain to do daily or was it alright?

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.