If you have instability or some other mechanical problems with your hips, knees or other joints, stem cell therapy may not be the best option or the correct choice of treatment. Adult stem cell treatment is not going make a mechanical defect or problem go away. However, patients who have degenerative disease, discs short in height in their back, lack of fluid or water in the discs, or have constant back pain can be very good candidates for injecting concentrated adult stem cells into the painful disc areas.
For shoulder, hip and knee candidates with bad arthritis or those who have been told they may need a resurfacing procedure or knee/hip replacement can be good candidates for adult stem cell treatment. Additionally, patients with partial rotator cuff tears, wear of the cartilage and those that don’t have ruptured ligaments, acl tears or mechanical inefficiency in their joints can be great candidates for this procedure as well.
Degenerative disc disease in your spine isn’t really a disease, but the term used to describe common age- or injury-related changes to the discs in your spine. These include the loss of fluid/hydration in the discs, which can result in reduced flexibility, and tears or cracks in the outer layer of the disc that can cause it to bulge, rupture, or break apart. Depending on the location of the disc, those with degenerative disc disease may suffer from mild to debilitating neck or back pain, numbness, or a combination of both, that can also affect the arms and legs. If traditional non-surgical methods don’t take care of the pain, surgery involving removing the disc and replacing it with an artificial one or fusing the surrounding vertebrae is often the last-resort treatment. Stem cell therapy used in the area of the affected disc, may help the disc to heal itself. This would reduce the inflammation, thus reducing the pressure on the nerves that cause the pain or numbness.
Stem cell therapy may be appropriate for treating degenerative disc disease in cervical and lumbar discs.
