Stem Cell Injections

Stem cell injections have been hailed as a miracle treatment for a variety of conditions ranging from the management of joint arthritis to Parkinson’s disease and wrinkle reduction. A stem cell is a cell in your body that has not yet matured into a specific role such as a blood cell, skin cell, or muscle cell for example. The human body is constantly making these stem cells and certain ones can be harvested for the purposes of regenerating and healing damaged tissue in conditions like joint arthritis and tendon tears.

Several small-scale studies suggest that stem cell therapy can help to improve the symptoms of knee arthritis. However, we are still not yet sure about how it exactly  works, what is the appropriate dosage/concentration of cells needed, how long it should help, how often the injections may be repeated, and whether it truly changes outcomes such as delaying or preventing the need for future surgery. Also, most studies that have shown an improvement, employed other well-known means of arthritis management such as bracing, physical therapy, weight management and nutritional support.

It’s hard to say whether the stem cells alone had the most benefit or whether the other factors played a significant role in the studies. For now, the FDA has considered the use of stem cell treatment of knee arthritis as “investigational”, and the treatment has not been standardized. Prices vary significantly for the procedure and the consumer does not have a way of verifying the quality, the quantity of the stem cells being used, nor guarantees on effectiveness.