Stem cell therapy, also known as regenerative medicine, is an outpatient procedure that targets the source of pain without medication, surgery, or lengthy recovery times. This procedure uses the body’s healing abilities to regenerate damaged tissues, reduce chronic pain, and heal injuries. Stem cells can differentiate into bone, cartilage, or fat cells to aid the body’s healing process.
Many parts of the body contain stem cells, but the hip bones are particularly rich in these cells, which can be harvested easily and quickly. The stem cells will be prepared for use within minutes of being harvested. In preparation for injection, the area where the stem cells will be injected is sterilized and numbed.
Image guidance, such as ultrasound, is typically used to ensure that the stem cells are placed precisely where they need to be. The stem cells are injected into the body to initiate a healing response.
Stem cell therapy can help with back pain but can also help with arthritis, pinched nerves, bone fractures, and orthopedic conditions.
How does stem cell therapy work for back pain?
Now that you understand how the stem cell injection procedure works, you may wonder how it will help your back pain. Back pain is one problem stem cells have been shown to alleviate by increasing cell count in degenerative disc diseases and decreasing the body’s inflammatory response.
When affected areas are injected with stem cells, they can repair themselves, making stem cell treatment a regenerative therapy. The stem cells used in this therapy can:
1. Create into whatever cells the body requires to aid in the repair of the affected area.
2. They self-renew once injected, which means they will keep working to repair and heal the body.
3. Reduce pain by acting on damaged tissue as an anti-inflammatory agent.
The stem cells you receive, according to the area into which they are injected and blend into the surrounding environment to perform the functions required by your body. These cells play a healing role in the treatment of degenerative disc disease, lower back pain, and other famous back problems. The proper microenvironment — the surrounding tissues in which stem cells exist — is critical for cultivating healthy and productive cells for a procedure.
While stem cell medicine can help those suffering from back pain, it is critical to remember that if you undertake stem cell therapy but continue to engage in previous behaviors that contribute to your back pain, you will most likely not see any improvement. Before this procedure, you should consult your doctor to see if anything you’re doing is causing your back pain. You will have a better chance of success if you can eliminate or limit the activities causing your back pain before the surgery.
Stem Cell Therapy Procedure
Stem cells can be harvested from several places in the human body. These harvested stem cells are processed using a centrifuge to produce bone marrow aspirate concentrate or BMAc.
This substance will contain the necessary stem cells to encourage growth factors and growth factor-rich platelets to assist in repairing damaged tissues. These cells will also collaborate to produce an anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effect, which can alleviate some pain. Once the cells are prepared, your physician will infuse them into the affected region.
Fat cells can also be used to harvest stem cells. Sometimes, liposuction can remove these fat cells and the stem cells within. Stem cells can be reinjected into the treatment area after liposuction.
Stem cells are typically delivered intramuscularly or intra-articularly, but they can also be given intravenously. In most cases, injections do not require anesthesia. This simple procedure usually does not necessitate an overnight inpatient stay; you can resume your normal activities shortly after receiving the stem cells. Even so, in the case of back pain and other back issues, patients should avoid doing anything that could aggravate their pain or discomfort.
And whomever you want to complete this procedure should have prior experience and training in this area. If they are not, they may cause more harm than good in addition to relieving your pain.
Back conditions that can be treated by Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cell therapies have no limitations. While studies are still being conducted to prove or disprove this belief, we know that stem cell therapy can help treat various conditions and problems. The following are some of the more minor back disorders that stem cell therapy can help with:
1. Orthopedic problems: If you suffer from hip, elbow, knee, or shoulder pain, or if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, bicep tendonitis, tennis elbow, frozen shoulder, or shoulder osteoarthritis, stem cell therapy may be an excellent treatment option for you. Patients frequently experience multiple pain points simultaneously, and some doctors will attempt to treat these issues concurrently. Talk to your doctor about stem cell therapy if you experience orthopedic pains.
2. Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD): Though this is referred to as a disease, the term describes changes in your spinal discs over time. The spinal discs take on the stresses of your daily activities. As we age, our discs lose elasticity, flexibility, and shock-absorbing abilities, which causes pain. Talk to your doctor about stem cell therapy if you have degenerative disc disease.
3. Herniated discs: Disc herniations occur when disc materials protrude beyond their usual boundaries. When this happens, pressure is applied to the spinal cord and spinal nerves, resulting in severe pain, possible pinched nerves, numbness, or weakness. Depending on the extent of your disc herniation, stem cell treatments may be able to alleviate some of your symptoms.
4. Sacroiliac joint Dysfunction: The sacroiliac (SI) joint connects your spine to your pelvis. This joint’s job is to take forward heavy loads so that we can walk, run, jog, jump, and do other things. Sacroiliitis is a condition in which this joint becomes inflamed. Physical therapy, massages, and other non-surgical methods commonly treat this pain. On the other hand, stem cell therapy could be used in place of some of these techniques.
5. Arthritis: Arthritis, or joint inflammation, is a common pain most people experience throughout their lives. Most of us will share this because our bones and joints show signs of wear and tear from our daily activities as we age. Furthermore, arthritis is common among athletes due to its high impact on their joints. Stem cell therapy can relieve pain in people suffering from arthritis, particularly in the hands, elbows, knees, hips, and shoulders.
6. Pinched nerves: Pinched nerves, also known as radiculopathy, are caused by irritation or damage to the nerve roots that exit the spine. When you have a pinched nerve, you may experience mild to severe pain, sensation changes, or strength changes. Typically, physicians will use physical therapy or oral medications to cure pinched nerves, but you can discuss stem cell treatments with your doctor. Those stem cells fighting to heal the affected area may be what your nerves require.
7. Fractures in the bones. Some bone fractures are difficult to heal on their own. A stem cell treatment can provide your fracture with the assistance required to begin healing and grow back together correctly.
