Stem Cell Therapy: Build Stronger Joints Without Surgery

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About one in four adults in the US has chronic joint pain of some sort [1]. Joints wear down as you age, or if they’re under a lot of stress from injury or inactivity.

The good news is that stem cell therapy may be able to help. It uses your own cells to regenerate your joints, building them back up and making them flexible and resilient. Here’s how stem cell therapy works. 

Stem cells help your joints regenerate

Every joint in your body already contains stem cells. They are your body’s natural repair system; when your joints go through the wear and tear of daily life, stem cells come in to rebuild. Stem cells do three things:

  • They release proteins that stimulate cartilage repair [2].
  • They signal for growth factors and nutrients to rebuild worn down joints [2].
  • They turn into brand new cartilage or ligament cells and replace old tissue entirely [3].

When you’re young, your joints have plenty of stem cells to repair daily damage. But as you age, stem cell production declines, and your body can start struggling to keep up with repair [4] - especially if your joints get injured. This is where stem cell therapy comes in.

Stem cell therapy: build more resilient joints without surgery

Stem cell therapy enhances your body’s natural repair system using your own cells. We borrow restorative stem cells from elsewhere in your body (usually fat stores) and inject them into worn down, painful, or damaged joints.

There are a few good reasons for choosing stem cells over surgery:

  • You save money. Joint repair surgery often costs tens of thousands of dollars. Stem cell therapy is a fraction of that.
  • Virtually no recovery time. Most joint surgery has around 6-12 months of recovery time, during which you have to do painful physical therapy, or you won’t regain full range of motion. That’s a long time before you can get back to living your full life. Stem cell therapy usually has one day of recovery time. Some patients feel relief in as fast as a few days.  
  • Less risky. Joint surgery puts you at risk for blood clots, infections, pain, stiffness, and other complications that can come with major surgery. Stem cells are noninvasive and minimally risky. You don’t need anesthesia or antibiotics, and there are no large surgical scars.
  • You keep your joint. Stem cell therapy regenerates your own tissue instead of leaving you with metal screws, rods, pins, or prosthetics in your joints. Why get a new artificial joint if you could bring the one you have back to full strength?

Stem cell therapy is a fast, noninvasive alternative to surgery. It usually has one day of recovery time, and it regenerates your own tissue instead of replacing it with synthetic prosthesis.

Who is stem cell therapy good for?

Researchers have been looking into stem cells for joint repair a lot in the last few years, with very promising results. Studies have found that stem cell therapy works well for the following:

  • Arthritis in knees, hips, fingers, and more. Stem cells may relieve pain, swelling, and lost range of motion in a number of joints, including your knees, hips, hands, fingers, ankles, and feet [5,6,7,8,9].
  • Back pain or disc damage. Stem cell therapy may help with chronic lower back pain. Several studies have found that it decreased lower back pain and numbness from damaged spinal discs [10,11,12,13].
  • Joint tears/injuries. Stem cells are a promising alternative to surgery for joint tears or damage. If you have a damaged ACL, torn rotator cuff, tennis elbow, or another joint issue, stem cell therapy may be able to help you recover quickly without surgery [14,15,16].
  • General joint resilience and strength. If one of your joints has been under stress and you want to keep it strong and flexible, stem cells may be able to help.

If you have any of the above issues, or have injured your knee, ankle, shoulder, hip, spine, or foot, you may be a good candidate for stem cell therapy. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation with us. We’ll evaluate your case and talk to you about your options for getting better.