The knee joint is particularly vulnerable to damage and pain, because it takes the full weight of your body and any extra force when you run or jump. The range of motion isn’t that great, and one twist the wrong way can lead to serious injury and pain. People who are overweight or frequently participate in sports have a higher risk of damaging their knees. Also, as we all age, there can be an overall wearing down of the knee, whether through overuse or from conditions such as arthritis.
While the knee may seem so simple when it’s swinging back and forth, it’s actually a pretty complex joint. The knee joint consists of an articulation between four bones: the femur, tibia, fibula and patella. There are four compartments to the knee. These are the medial and lateral tibiofemoral compartments, the patellofemoral compartment and the superior tibiofibular joint. The components of each of these compartments can suffer from repetitive strain, injury, and even disease.
The human body is made of billions of specialized cells that form specific organs like the brain, skin, muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints, and bone. Each day these cells go through a degenerative and regenerative process. As older cells die, new cells are born from stem cells, which have the unique capability of being able to create multiple types of other cells.
How Stem Cell Therapy Can Cure Knee Pain
Since 1981, stem cell therapy, also known as regenerative medicine, has been utilized to promote the reparative response of diseased, dysfunctional, or injured tissue using stem cells. Researchers prepare the stem cells in a lab beforehand, where they are manipulated into specialized specific types of cells, such as heart muscle cells, blood cells, or nerve cells. While Stem cell therapy requires no invasive surgery, these stem cells – called placental-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) – are prepared beforehand, and injected directly into the area of pain or injury into your joint, muscle, ligament, or tendon.
This procedure’s objective is simply to relieve pain, while the new stem cells stimulate your body to repair itself and heal faster, by generating healthy tissue. Stem cell therapy has recently had a major breakthrough within the medical field, particularly in the field of orthopedic medicine, due to the potential of these stem cells ability to allow the body to heal itself, cure arthritic pain, and other chronic or acute pain from injuries.
These non-surgical stem cell injection procedures happen within a single day and may offer a viable alternative for those who are facing surgery, or even joint replacement. Patients are typically able to return to normal activity following the procedure and are able to avoid the painful and lengthy rehabilitation periods that are typically required to help restore strength, mobility, and range-of-motion following invasive joint surgeries. Lastly, patients are far less vulnerable to the risks involved with surgeries, such as infection and blood clots.
To learn about what may be causing your knee pain and whether stem cell therapy may be able to help, call Dr. Bill Hefley at (800) 336-2412 to request an appointment, or request an appointment online.
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