Sports injuries can sideline you from your favourite activities. Unlike stem cell therapy, traditional treatments can keep you out of the game for long periods during rest, recovery from surgery, or rehabilitation after procedures. Ask me, I have been in this situation for the last 2.5 years. In winter, an average of 3.8 million people are injured playing winter sports in the U.S alone.
Stem Cell Therapy
There is a large amount of published research on stem cells for sports injuries. It has shown the great success of stem cell therapy for sports injury, musculoskeletal and neurological disorders, and autoimmune heart and lung disease. Dr. Johnson is a board-certified physician and founder of award-winning practice Innovations Medical. He helps us understand how stem cell therapy provides injured patients an alternative to conventional medicine with proven results.
“Stem cell therapy is a surgical procedure that sees patients putting their own cells back into their body — much like a skin graft or a coronary artery bypass,” says Dr. Bill Johnson.
1. How Does Stem Cell Therapy Help?
Most studies have shown good to excellent pain reduction with stem cells. Stem cells, especially those from fat, are highly anti-inflammatory and very helpful with pain and swelling. Stem cell therapy helps to reduce joint inflammation quickly, and many patients see improvements in 1 to 2 days. Anti-inflammatory results of the procedure last 2 to 3 months, and many patients see a gradual improvement in their condition over time.
Stem cells are increasingly used to enhance healing with and without surgical intervention, although the best way to use the cells is still being tested.
2. What Types of Injuries Can it Heal?
Studies are available showing help with the following injuries:
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- Shoulder and rotator cuff injuries
- Knee ligament and cartilage injuries
- Elbow injuries
- Achilles tendon injuries
- Foot and ankle injuries
- Back injuries
3. What About Prior Injuries?
Stem cells can help with recovery from sports injury, even though it occurred months or years ago. Both pain and mobility can be improved by stem cells used in the areas of old injuries.
4. Who is The Ideal Candidate?
Stromal vascular fraction (SVF) stem cell therapy is minimally invasive, which gives patients an alternative to painful surgery and a lengthy recovery. Patients with sports injuries ideal for this type of treatment are:
- Patients who have not responded to current medical treatments or who are no longer responding to current medical treatment
- Those who cannot tolerate recommended treatment for their condition
- People who want to avoid the recommended treatment for their condition, such as surgery
- Patients for which nothing has been effective
5. How Much Does it Cost?
The cost of the initial treatment ranges from $5,000 to $10,000. The cost range depends on the complexity of delivering the cells back to you. For example, spine conditions require multiple physicians to deliver the cells back to your body, which requires an increase in cost as multiple doctors are involved in the procedure. For many people, the initial treatment is all that is needed; however, subsequent treatments may be required for some conditions, and these are done at a reduced fee.
6. What Are Other Treatments Available?
Bone fractures are treated by placing the broken edges together and immobilizing them for several weeks. Soft tissue injuries and joint injuries are treated with rest, physical therapy/rehab, injections (steroids and others like Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)), and sometimes surgical repair.
Treating concussions with physical and mental rest is becoming increasingly emphasized. Overuse injuries typically require long-term rest from the offending activity, rehab, and sometimes injections.
Many of these therapies are highly effective for fractures and minor soft tissue injuries like sprains. Any use of stem cells in these areas would have the goal of speeding recovery since complete recovery is the typical outcome of conventional therapy.
Other treatments like muscle or ligament tears, overuse injuries, and repeated concussions often respond with less than complete recovery. These are areas where stem cells may offer complete recovery as well as faster recovery.
The Gist of it
Stem cell therapy is changing lives. This revolutionary therapy provides much-needed relief for patients suffering from sports injuries and more. Research has shown that it has been successful in healing patients in less time than other types of treatments. Would you consider stem cell therapy for sports injuries?
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