Joint stiffness and discomfort may make getting through the day a challenge. Over time, chronic pain in your knees, elbows, shoulders, or hips may be pretty debilitating. Alternatives to surgery and more standard treatments, such as physical therapy or medication, may include regenerative medicine.
1. Stem cell treatment
Media coverage of stem cell therapy, one of the most well recognized approaches to regenerative medicine, has recently increased. Medical practitioners have begun using it to treat joint and tissue injuries due to its effectiveness. For example, a study of patients with knee osteoarthritis revealed that even five years after treatment, the patients reported feeling better.
It can produce such remarkable outcomes in part because it uses stem cells, which have the unique ability to convert into any kind of cell nearby. Joint cartilage and ligament damage may be repaired and rebuilt by stem cell injections into your knee or shoulder. Because stem cells can transform into different cell types, this is why this is the case. At QC Kinetix (Beaumont), all the solutions are available.
To begin, we take stem cells from another region of your body, most typically the iliac crest bone marrow (hipbone). After that, they are injected into your joint to begin the body’s healing process.
2. Platelet-rich blood plasma (PRP)
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an increasingly popular choice for pain management for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Although it has been used to treat tendinitis for more than three decades, it only became well known in the early part of this century for its usefulness in treating arthritis. No matter how much it has been used.
During the procedure, the doctor will take a little sample of blood from your arm, similar to a conventional blood draw in a laboratory. Afterward, he uses a centrifuge to spin the blood sample at high speed to separate platelets from other blood components, such as red and white cells. After preparing the fluid, he will inject it into your hurting joint.
After an injury, these platelets release growth factors that help the body heal more quickly by stimulating cell division, stimulating tissue regeneration, and accelerating the body’s natural healing process. PRP therapy for knee osteoarthritis has been shown in several trials to slow the progression of the disease and relieve pain.
3. Prolotherapy
Another kind of regenerative medicine, prolotherapy, involves receiving an injection but does not need the patient to have blood drawn or for stem cells to be collected.
Prolotherapy believes that if given the opportunity, your body would spontaneously shift resources to the area needing treatment. This procedure involves a doctor injecting a harmless glucose solution into your joint. This solution will activate your body’s inherent defenses and healing mechanisms.
A dose of lidocaine may be added to the injection to numb the area and make you more comfortable throughout the procedure.
As well as helping to regenerate wounded tissues like ligaments and tendons, prolotherapy also alleviates swelling and pain in the region treated. Patients often report feeling less pain and having more freedom of movement.
4. Amniotic membrane injections
There are four categories of regenerative medicine, and this is the last one. The attending physician throughout the delivery process may use amniotic membrane tissue from the placentas of women. Several applications for the extraordinary characteristics may be found in this tissue, which is often discarded with the placenta after delivery.
Make sure to consult a good doctor before you opt for any of the above-treatments.
