STEM CELL THERAPY FOR SHOULDER PAIN
Our shoulders provide us with a wide range of mobility, making this area of our bodies susceptible to pain and injury. When activity modifications and rest do not provide improvement in shoulder pain, surgery and stem cell therapy are considered as the next viable treatment options to relieve pain.
While surgical procedures, such as shoulder arthroscopy and total shoulder replacements, have proven to be an effective treatment option for severe shoulder conditions and injuries, they require extensive rehabilitation, involving a lengthy recovery time. Choosing stem cell therapy as an alternative to shoulder surgery significantly cuts down the risk and time involved. Unlike surgery, many patients are able to return to their normal daily activities shortly after receiving stem cell therapy.
Commonly Treated Shoulder Conditions & Injuries Using Stem Cell Therapy
Shoulder pain is commonly the result of arthritis or injury. Shoulder injuries are frequently caused by athletic activities such as overhead throwing and repetitive motions, but many injuries can also occur during everyday activities. According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, approximately 7.5 million people went to the doctor’s office for a shoulder problem, including shoulder and upper arm sprains and strains, in 2006.
Common shoulder conditions and injuries treated using stem cell therapy:
Benefits of Stem Cell Therapy for Shoulder Pain
Unlike surgery, which carries certain risks, stem cell therapy is a minimally invasive procedure, which uses only your stem cells as a healing agent to repair damaged tissue. Our state-of-the-art technology at the Orlando Center for Regenerative Medicine works with both stem cell and PRP therapies to treat chronic and acute shoulder pain. These regenerative medicine procedures offer a much faster recovery time than surgery and many patients report that the procedure is painless.
How Does Stem Cell Therapy Work?
Stem cells are undifferentiated cells found in our bodies that have the unique characteristic to self-renew. Stem cells have the ability to regenerate and in turn repair damaged or injured tissue. At the Orlando Center for Regenerative Medicine we only use your own mesenchymal stem cells, or adult stem cells, to promote healing in the body. We aspirate these cells from your bone marrow found in the pelvis, or iliac crest. We use bone marrow from the iliac crest because research has found that this part of our body contains a very high amount of adult stem cells. When a concentrated source of these adult cells are placed in the proper environment of the body, they are able to differentiate into cells that are a part of the musculoskeletal system, allowing the advancement of healing in bones, tendons, cartilage, and ligaments.
The Stem Cell Therapy Treatment Process
Many patients find stem cell therapy to be a pain-free procedure with little to no downtime, post-procedure. Our center uses advanced, state of the art equipment for each and every procedure performed in our office. Before being considered for a regenerative medicine procedure, such as stem cell therapy, you must have a consultation with our team in order to ensure that you are a good candidate for the treatment. After being approved for the procedure, you will be provided with a list of medication and supplements that should be avoided pre- and post-procedure. There are some medications, such as anti-inflammatories, that may hinder the healing process for stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy.
The procedure is performed in one of our beautiful treatment rooms under the guidance of an ultrasound machine. The procedure begins by cleaning and numbing the skin and bone around the pelvis area. A special needle is then inserted into the iliac crest in order to harvest stem cells located in the bone marrow blood. This process of aspiration is usually painless and is carefully done by one of our doctors.
Once the proper amount of bone marrow blood has been obtained, the tube of blood is spun in a high-spinning centrifuge in our facility. The machine concentrates the blood mixture so that the highest amounts of stem cells are separated from other cells. There is no other manipulation to these cells other than the simple process of centrification. This concentrated source of powerful stem cells is then re-injected into the area of pain or injury in order to promote healing in the body.
These procedures are considered minimally invasive and are done on an outpatient basis. We ask patients to expect that the procedure will last 90 minutes.