There are varying types of injections that have evolved to potentially treat knee pain, including cortisone injections, PRP injections, and now stem cell injections.
Stem cells can come from blood, bone marrow, fat, and placenta. Stem cells are the only cells in the body able to morph into other types of specialized cells.
When the patient’s own stem cells are injected into a damaged joint, they appear to transform into chondrocytes, the cells that go on to produce fresh cartilage.
Additionally, they seem to amplify the body’s own natural repair efforts by accelerating healing, reducing inflammation, and preventing scarring and loss of function.
Since the stem cells come from your own body, there’s little chance of infection or rejection. Stem cell injections are done on an outpatient basis and tend to have a quick and easy recovery.<
Do Stem Cell Injections Work?
Yankees CC Sabathia recently received stem cell injections for his degenerative knee condition.
General manager Brian Cashman says, “He is going to receive an injection of cortisone and stem cell to try and deal with this… You drain the knee, inject the cortisone and stem cell into the knee and you see how it responds,” he said. “That’s the typical protocol for that. There have been a number of successes through the process.”
Former Yankees Hideki Matsui, Randy Johnson, Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones also went through the procedure, and Cashman said it has worked out for many players.
Ravaged Joints No More
Linda Morning-Starpoole was having terrible knee pain as a result from gymnastics and dance injuries when she was younger.
She decided to try stem cell injections as an alternative to steroid injections, physical therapy, and joint replacement.
After successful stem cell injections, Linda states, “I have a grandson. Run with my grandson and play with him. How can you put a price tag on that?”
Avoiding A Life Sentence In A Wheelchair
Last year, 72 year old, Patricia Beals opted for the experimental stem cell treatment in order to repair her severely arthritic knees. Bone marrow stem cells were harvested from her hip, the cells were concentrated in a centrifuge, then injected back into her damaged joints.
She able to avoid a double knee replacement, or spending the remainder of her life in a wheelchair, because the stem cell injections had worked quickly, and had worked well. She says, “Now I’m biking and hiking like a 30-year-old.”
Even The Best Knee Surgeon Is Impressed
Dr. Steven Struhl was recently administered stem cell injections for his own knee and noted that the “difference is huge” when compared to cortisone and PRP injections. “Stem cells are a much more biologic regenerative stimulus…the reparative cells, growth factors, etc. are like night and day.”
The future is here, and there is now even more hope for those with degenerative knee disease, and various types of knee pain.
Contact Dr. Struhl’s office to see if stem cell injections could help you and your knees.
