Just because you are experiencing knee pain doesn’t mean you need to schedule surgery for relief. While knee surgery has been the main treatment for many years, advances in modern medicine have brought alternatives that can repair the knee without going under the knife.
Knee pain can take a toll on every area of life. Athletes often find that knee issues affect their performance in the game. Non-athletes find that the pain and stiffness can make it challenging to get through the day.
Untreated knee pain can be debilitating, making it challenging to keep up with regular activities at home and work. If you are tired of living with knee pain, then it’s time to consult with an expert team that can assist with your recovery.
Regenerative Medicine: What You Need to Know
The good news is that advances in regenerative medicine can deliver excellent results to alleviate knee pain. Our team at RegenOrthoSport offers regenerative medicine for interventional orthopedics, sports medicine, and more.
Our goal is to help you find relief and maximize recovery without the need for surgical interventions.
With regenerative medicine, these treatments work with the natural healing functions in the body. The treatments we use boost the body’s ability to self-heal, helping patients return to regular activities as quickly as possible – without a need for surgery.
Regenerative medicine can be a valuable resource for treating knee conditions. Often, knee pain occurs because of an injury or breakdown of soft tissue in the joint.
Using regenerative medicine is an effective way to promote tissue regrowth and improve the overall comfort and function of the joint.
Types of Regenerative Medicine
As you learn more about regenerative medicine, you will find that there are different methods for promoting healing.
Stem Cell Therapy (Bone Marrow Concentrate)
This method uses stem cells which can morph into any type of cell nearby. It’s commonly used for knee pain and other joint issues. If you have deteriorating ligaments or cartilage in the knee joint, these tissues can be regenerated and transformed by injecting stem cells into the affected area.
First, the stem cells are extracted from another part of your body. A common method is to take bone marrow from the hipbone, where these important cells are dense and plentiful. Then, the cells are injected into the knee joint to stimulate and promote the natural healing processes in the body.
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and Platelet Lysate
The next option involves using plasma that is rich in platelets. This method involves drawing blood from your arm, similar to what you experience when visiting a lab for blood testing. Platelet lysate is a highly specialized derivative of platelet-rich plasma.
After the blood is drawn, it is placed in a centrifuge machine that spins at high speed to separate the naturally occurring platelets in your blood. You’ll see a separation of the red and white parts of the blood.
Next, this concentrated extraction of platelet-rich plasma (the white or clear portion of the extraction) is injected into the knee joint.
This injection is beneficial because of the growth factors that promote cell division and tissue regeneration. Using PRP therapy can be a helpful way to speed up recovery and healing. This treatment is also used for slowing the progress of degenerative diseases and helping with pain mitigation.
High-Level Imaging for Optimal Injection Results
We use top-notch imaging technology when bone marrow concentrate or platelet-rich plasma is being injected into the knee joint.
These digital images ensure precision with the injection, optimizing the amount of bone marrow concentrate or PRP that reaches the target area. By ensuring the accurate placement of the injection, the overall outcome is improved because it promotes the body’s natural healing functions in the ideal area.
Types of Knee Injuries Treated with Regenerative Medicine
The type of knee injury you are experiencing will determine whether regenerative medicine is an ideal treatment for your unique needs.
The truth is that many joint injuries that required surgical intervention in the past can now be treated with bone marrow or PRP injections instead.
For many years, surgery was the only option for partial or full ACL tears. Now, it’s possible to treat these ligament tears non-surgically.
ACL tears tend to be one of the most common knee injuries treated, and regenerative medicine can be effective for mild and moderate cases. Severe ACL injuries might still require surgical intervention, although regenerative medicine can be part of the treatment plan to speed up healing and optimize long-term outcomes.
The goal of regenerative medicine for this type of knee injury is to save the ACL, not replace it. It’s possible to heal the ACL with the right treatment and recovery plan.
After regenerative medicine for ACL injuries, most patients can return to sporting activities within 3 – 6 months. In comparison, it can often take a year after surgery before a person can return to the game.
Osteoarthritis in the knee joint not only causes pain, but it can also affect mobility and function. This type of arthritis can make participating in your favorite sporting activities challenging and takes a toll on the enjoyment of daily activities and overall quality of life.
For patients over the age of 40 with osteoarthritis in the knee, the previous treatment options included nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, and steroid knee injections to manage the symptoms. If these minimally-invasive options weren’t effective, then surgery was often recommended.
Now, regenerative therapy can be helpful for supporting healing and recovery without surgery. The injected bone marrow or PRP cells work at the injured site to promote natural healing.
Meniscus Tears
A meniscus tear might seem like a small injury, but it can cause ongoing pain and discomfort. The meniscus is a living tissue, which means that it can heal on its own with the right support.
In addition to physical therapy, it can also be helpful to speed up the process with regenerative medicine. This form of interventional orthopedics involves an injection of bone marrow concentrate (containing stem cells) to promote healing within the knee joint.
Injecting this healing concentrate into the affected area helps to prevent surgery because it activates the natural healing functions within the body to repair the meniscus.
One of the benefits of regenerative therapy is that you can speed up the healing process. For example, most people can return to sporting activities within 3 – 6 months after treatment. But if surgery is used, it can take as long as a year before returning to the game.
Call for a Consultation
Are you interested in learning more about how regenerative medicine can be helpful in treating knee pain? Then contact our expert team at RegenOrthoSport. You can book an appointment through our online form or call our office at (817) 859-8167.