Sports injuries can sideline you from your favorite activities – and many traditional treatments can keep you out of the game for long periods during rest, recovery from surgery, or rehabilitation after procedures.
Sports injuries may include bone breaks, fractures, and bruising; joint injuries like dislocations, separations, and post-injury arthritis; soft tissue injuries to muscles, ligaments, cartilage, and other connective tissues; head injuries and concussion, and injuries caused by overuse.
Sports injuries can take a long time to heal, or never fully heal at all. Dotstemcell provided by Innovations Stem Cell Center gives sports injury patients an alternative to conventional medicine- with proven results.
Who is an Ideal Candidate for Stem Cell Therapy for Sports Injuries? (Stem Cell Therapy) ?
Patients with sports injuries who are ideal candidates for stem cell therapy include:
- Patients who have not responded to current medical treatments, or who are no longer responding to current medical treatment,
- Patients who cannot tolerate recommended treatment for their condition,
- Patients who want to avoid the recommended treatment for their condition, such as surgery, and
- Patients for which nothing has been effective.
What are the Results of Stem Cell Therapy for Sports Injuries?
Patients who undergo stem cell therapy for their sports injury report a reduction in their painful symptoms and increase range of motion and increased mobility.
Stem cell therapy helps to quickly reduce joint inflammation, and many patients see improvements in 1 to 2 days.
Anti-inflammatory results of the procedure last 2 to 3 months and many patients see a gradual improvement in their condition over time.
Do Stem Cells or PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma)
Some people talk about PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) as if it contains stem cells. That is incorrect. PRP has no stem cells. PRP can be useful for sports injuries because it contains a large number of special proteins called growth factors.
Growth factors are chemical messengers used by our cells to talk with each other.
The growth factors in platelets tell our cells and immune systems the information needed to clean and repair injured tissue.
PRP concentrates platelets, increasing the amount of messenger growth factors present. PRP has evidence of improving healing of wounds, aiding hair restoration and other areas.
It is used cosmetically to perform rejuvenating facials, improve wounds and improve the survival transferred fat.
However, PRP contains growth factors that can also cause inflammation.
These growth factors are important in removing damaged tissue, but can make PRP less effective in many sports injuries.
Stem cells from fat contain growth factors that are anti-inflammatory. This makes them more effective for many sports injuries, especially those that have been present for several weeks or months and just won’t clear up.
Stem cells have a clear advantage over PRP for these chronic injuries.
Stem Cell Therapy Treatments for Sports Injuries
Sports injuries are one of the most rapidly developing areas of adult stem cell investigations. There are many types of sports injuries.
Various injuries have various treatments and outcomes.
Adult stem cells are being investigated to speed healing, reduce scarring/fibrosis, heal structures that previously could not be healed, and relieve pain.
FAQ
Q: What are the types of sports injuries for which adult stem cells are being investigated?
A : There are many types of sports injuries. Sports injuries can involve almost any area of the body.
We can group most sports injuries into five categories:
Bone injuries – including brakes or fracture and “bruising”
Soft tissue injuries – including muscle, ligaments, tendons, cartilage and skin scrapes and bruises
Joint injuries – including dislocations, separations and post-injury arthritis
Head injuries – primarily concussions
Overuse injuries – usually involve soft tissue or joints but caused by repetitive activities
Stem cells are being investigated in each of these areas. Some investigations are determining if stem cells speed healing and recovery. These include:
muscle injuries
bone fractures
some joint injuries
head injuries
overuse injuries
Q: What are adult stem cells?
A: Stem cells are special cells in our bodies that have two important characteristics:
Stem cells have the ability to replicate. In other words, they can make new copies of themselves. Because of this ability, an infinite number of copies can be made from the same cell.
Stem cells also have the ability to become other types of cells. A good example of this is that research labs have used fat-derived stem cells to make cartilage muscle, skin and bone cells. This ability means that in theory the transformed can make an infinite number of the new cell type.
Stem cells can come from a number of sources including embryos, umbilical cord blood, and adult cells. Adult stem cells come from adult individuals, not embryos or umbilical cord blood. Stem cells obtained from mature adult tissues are referred to as adult stem cells. Adult stem cells are believed to have the potential to become any type of cell.
The two most commonly used sources of adult stem cells are fat and bone marrow.
Adult stem cells from fat are called adipose-derived adult stem cells. For most purposes, stem cells from fat are easier to obtain and more abundant than from other tissues.
Q: How are adult stem cells deployed for Sports Injuries?
A: Stem cells are typically deployed by injection into the affected area(s) and intravenously (IV). Early investigations suggest that using both local injections and IV deployment enhances the outcomes.
Most of the injection sites such as most soft tissue and joints can be done directly at Innovations Medical.
Some such as injections in the back or neck require special imaging and are done at a separate location where radiologic imaging like CT scan is available.
Typically all of these injections and the IV are done under local anesthesia without the need for sedation.