Osteoarthritis affects 30 million people nationally. It’s the kind of wear and tear arthritis that those of us who are active and love sports and physical activity tend to get as we get a little older. Let’s face it, even if you are not someone who’s into adrenaline-fueled sports, chances are good that the regular wear and tear your body has received over the years causes pain and discomfort for you. Arthritic knees are the most common type of osteoarthritis, and it is a painful form of arthritis that often stops people from doing the activities they love. Here at Premier MD Care, we are excited to be able to offer one of the newest, cutting edge therapies out there—stem cell therapy!
Stem cell therapy is a cutting-edge remedy the promotes the natural healing process within your body through the use of umbilical cord stem cells. Stem cells have the ability to develop into a number of different cell types including bone, muscle, ligaments, cartilage, tendons, and more. We use this revitalizing therapy for our patients to alleviate their pain, heal their injuries, and help them reclaim their mobility. This is a regenerative treatment that is an effective alternative to surgery, opioid use and other potentially invasive treatments.
How Does it Work?
Stem cell therapy uses stem cells to replace dead and diseased cells within the body. Stem cells play an essential role in regeneration, because they can divide easily to replace dead cells.
Let’s take a look at what stem cells are. Stem cells are the body’s raw materials — they are the cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated. Stem cells are not specialized to perform a specific role, instead they have the unique ability to develop into one of many different types of cells. And that is what is so special about them.
Under the right conditions in the body or a laboratory, stem cells divide to form more cells called daughter cells. These daughter cells either become new stem cells (self-renewal) or become specialized cells (differentiation) with a more specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, heart muscle cells or bone cells. No other cell in the body has the natural ability to generate new cell types.
At PremierMD Care, the umbilical cord stem cells are supplied by donors through the FDA’s Good Tissue Practice regulations, and the high standards of the American Association of Tissue Banks. Human umbilical cord blood stem cells are then enriched using a specialized centrifuge. This ultra-healing substance is then sterilized and stored carefully for our treatments.
The umbilical stem cells have a regenerative ability that helps your body heal and your tissues repair, once they are delivered to the targeted treatment area via injection. These cells are then instantly attracted to the point of injury. A cellular response is then signaled to healthy cells through a process known as paracrine signaling. The stem cells also serve as an anti-inflammatory agent, which works to speed up the healing process and improve immune system function.
The Applications for Therapy
While there are many applications in which stem cell therapy can be used, we tend to use it mainly to help heal painful joints such as hips and knees, but we also treat shoulders, ankles, and smaller joints in the hand or feet with these therapies.
When injected into a patient’s joint or tendon, the stem cell therapy helps reduce inflammation and pain, and in some cases stem cell injections have showed evidence of cartilage regeneration and increased the presence of healthy cells in that region. Stem cell therapy can be used to repair soft tissue injuries such as tears or tendinosis. These are typically done in the rotator cuff, lateral elbow and Achilles tendons.
Some of the other benefits that stem cell therapy can provide include the treatment of:
- Orthopedics
- Arthritis
- Aesthetics
- Autoimmune disease
- Sports injuries
- Sexual Dysfunction
- Hair restoration
About the Procedure
Stem Cell therapy is typically a one-time injection procedure that does not need repeating. Most patients experience pain relief about one to two months after the injection is done, and mobility and pain improvement continue for up to six months afterward. Studies have shown an 80% effectiveness rate in pain relief and improved function of the joint after the procedure is complete.
If you are dealing with joint pain or any of the other issues that may be helped by stem cell therapy, give us a call. Reclaim your mobility and the fun things you’ve always loved doing by trying this regenerative therapy at PremeirMD Care! Call us today to find out more (239) 500-6363! #SWFLconciergedoctors #stemcelltherapy
