Stem cell therapy is one of a range of treatments known collectively as regenerative medicine. These treatments use human tissues and cells to give your body's natural ability to repair itself a helping hand.
Stem cells are abundant in babies before and after their birth, but their numbers decline as you age. Your body does have plenty of stored stem cells, but it's not so easy for you to mobilize them when you suffer an injury.
With stem cell therapy, your provider at Goodlife Physical Medicine injects a concentrated dose of stem cells into your damaged joints or tissues. Stem cells can come from your own tissues or in the form of donations from healthy volunteers.
The Goodlife Physical Medicine team might recommend stem cell therapy if you have:
Stem cell therapy can treat a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions, and research is ongoing into where stem cells could be most helpful. Using stem cell therapy could prevent the need for surgery in many cases.
Goodlife Physical Medicine uses autologous stem cells – cells that come from the patient's body. It's possible to extract stem cells from your fatty tissues, but the Goodlife Physical Medicine team uses bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) as a more reliable source.
First, your provider gathers a bone marrow sample from the rich supply in your pelvis or hip. This procedure is done under a local anesthetic and should cause minimal discomfort.
After separating the stem cells from the marrow, your provider injects them back into your damaged tissues on the same day.
It takes at least a couple of weeks for stem cell therapy to deliver noticeable effects, but the improvement continues for several months.
To find out more about stem cell therapy and how it could help you, call Goodlife Physical Medicine or book an appointment online today.
