SLAP tear — is BPC realistically going to do anything or am I kidding myself?
18 posts
Type II SLAP tear confirmed on MRI. Surgical consult next month. In the meantime I'm managing with sling-as-needed, PT twice weekly, nothing overhead.
Reading around, BPC for labrum is in the 'maybe, unclear, some people claim yes, most shrug' bucket. Labrum is fibrocartilage, poor blood supply, heals badly even in surgical repair.
Is running BPC pre-surgery (4-6 weeks) going to meaningfully change my post-op trajectory? Or is this a 'will not hurt, probably won't help, feel free to try' situation? Skepticism welcome — I'd rather not spend the money if the answer is 'no.'
6 Replies
52 posts
I'd run it, but I'd frame expectations down. 'Might support overall soft tissue environment and gut/systemic inflammation reduction' is a defensible story. 'Will heal my SLAP' is not.
- BPC-157 · 250 mcg · 2x/day local · sub-Q
- TB-500 · 2 mg · weekly · sub-Q
117 posts
Honest read: the labrum healing data for BPC is close to nothing. The animal tendon data is better characterized than the animal fibrocartilage data. Pre-surgical BPC is reasonable from a 'prepare the tissue environment' angle, but 'meaningfully change post-op trajectory' is a stronger claim than I'd back.
122 posts
Pre-surgery BPC is low-risk, low-evidence. If you have the money and you're going to feel better having done something, the downside is modest. If you're picking between BPC pre-op and, say, a better PT program or a dietary intervention, I'd take the dietary one.
32 posts
Post-op is where I'd put more of the BPC — the healing environment of a repaired labrum is where peptide support makes more theoretical sense. Talk to your surgeon about timing.
18 posts
Thanks everyone. Going to skip pre-op and reassess post-op with the surgeon's input.
35 posts
smart move honestly. labrum stuff is genuinely one of the worst healing scenarios your body can deal with, and throwing peptides at it pre-op when your surgeon hasn't even opened it up yet feels like noise. post-op when you actually know what you're working with and your body's in active repair mode, that's when it might matter. most people who claim pre-op BPC saved them probably would've recovered fine anyway, or they're comparing against a made-up worst-case scenario in their head.