Pain Management With Stem Cell Rich Injections

Painful musculoskeletal conditions now have an additional option for pain management – stem cell rich injections. These injections represent a breakthrough for individuals dealing with leg, neck, arm, or back pain.

For over 30 years the gold standard in pain management treatment has been cortisone shots for spinal or extremity disorders. These injections work well with great results over 75-80% of the time. However, cortisone injections do not change the course of arthritis or soft tissue injury like a rotator cuff tear. They offer pain relief for a limited time period and then need to be repeated typically. In addition, there are limitations on the frequency with which corticosteroid injections may be performed due to potential adrenal gland problems and blood sugar issues. Most physicians recommend no more than once every few months for injections, and if a number of joints are being injected the total sum of corticosteroid going into the body can add up quickly.

For decades, the arthritis holy grail has been to find a substance that regenerates cartilage and soft tissues while also relieving pain. Cortisone injections only help with pain relief. The stem cell injections are nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory and processed from amniotic fluid with the potential for cartilage and soft tissue regeneration while providing pain relief simultaneously.

The regenerative effects have been shown in both the laboratory as well as in animal studies. Cartilage defects have been able to be filled with real cartilage. What is seen now is that cartilage defects typically are filled in with pseudo-cartilage, which is also known as fibrocartilage. This is not nearly as durable long term as native types of cartilage.

The nonsteroidal stem cell injections are made from a base of amniotic fluid harvested from live consenting donors, and it is neither fetal nor embryonic. The stem cells are not pluripotent, which means they cannot differentiate into all types of cells. However, they can differentiate into all of the musculoskeletal types including cartilage, bone, tendon, muscle, which are the most important for musculoskeletal injections.

The allograft is human derived and has been utilized over four thousand times in the US over the past few years. Indications have included spinal fusion enhancement, soft tissue injections, degenerative joint disease, wound healing, joint injections, and injection around the spinal cord as an adhesion barrier. Adverse events have been minimal and results have been very encouraging.

At this point in time, regenerative medicine injections are becoming more and more popular. Larger research studies need to be done, so for now the anecdotal excellent results are enough to spur its popularity.

Want to find out more about Stem Cell injections, then visit Preferred Pain Center’s site on how to choose the best Arizona pain doctor for your needs.