What is stem cell therapy?
Stem cell therapy is an injectable treatment that delivers large quantities of stem cells to damaged tissues to help your body heal itself.
Most of your tissues contain stem cells. These unique cells can change into other types of cells, playing a vital role in maintaining tissue health.
Injuries and aging result in the population of stem cells falling, so tissue repair slows down. Injecting a high concentration of stem cells into your tissues triggers a new round of healing.
What can stem cell therapy treat?
Conditions that Dr. Smith can treat using stem cell therapy include:
- Osteoarthritis
- Tennis elbow
- Rotator cuff tears
- Torn meniscus
- Chronic ankle sprains
- Hamstring strain
- Achilles tendinitis
- Sports injuries
- Overuse syndromes (e.g., plantar fasciitis)
- Avascular necrosis
- Fracture non-unions
Regenerative Orthopedics Institute doesn't use stem cell therapy to treat back and neck pain.
What sources are used for stem cell therapy?
The stem cell sources Regenerative Orthopedics Institute uses include your bone marrow, fat, or both:
Fat-derived stem cells
Adipose or fatty tissue consists of fat cells (adipocytes) and the stromal vascular fraction (SVF).
SVF contains millions of unused stem cells, which the experts at Regenerative Orthopedics Institute clean in their office laboratory and mix with an enzyme to make the stem cells detach from the fat cells.
Bone marrow aspirate
Bone marrow has a rich supply of growth factors and stem cells. If you don't have enough fat for Dr. Smith to obtain an adequate amount of stem cells, she can extract bone marrow aspirate using a minor arthroscopic procedure called microfracture.
After mixing the stem cells with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from your blood, Dr. Smith injects the solution into the affected area.
How soon will I feel the effects of my stem cell therapy?
Because stem cell therapy stimulates the normal growth and repair processes, it doesn't offer immediate relief like steroid injections would. Therefore it typically takes 2-8 weeks to see a significant improvement. However, stem cell therapy results last much longer.
Stem cell therapy treatments aim to reverse tissue damage and degenerative changes. However, when the new tissues grow, natural aging begins again.
Most patients find they achieve 2-6 years of good pain relief after stem cell therapy, but you need to repeat the treatment throughout your life.
Find out how stem cell therapy could help you by calling Regenerative Orthopedics Institute today or booking an appointment online.
