Sustaining injuries are inevitable when you play sports. Overtraining, lack of conditioning, and incorrect form or technique can all lead to sports injuries. Sometimes, it might be something you couldn’t have prevented, like impacts, accidents, or collisions with other players.
These injuries can range from bruises, sprains, and muscle tears to broken bones and progressive or degenerative damage. The use of stem cell therapy is gaining popularity as a treatment for sports injuries. Read on to learn more!
What Is Stem Cell Therapy?
Stem cell therapy is a type of regenerative medicine designed to accelerate healing and promote tissue regeneration in the body. Stem cells can develop into different bodily cells, making them a viable treatment option for various medical conditions.
As of today, stem cell treatment is being used to treat several autoimmune, orthopedic, neurological, and traumatic injuries.
Benefits of Stem Cell Therapy
Compared to surgery, stem cell therapy is a minimally invasive treatment that supports the regeneration of the body’s healthy cells. This allows repair of damaged tissues and provides an immediate boost to the natural healing process, speeding up recovery time.
Stem cells do not directly treat diseases. However, studies show that stem cell therapy can have the following beneficial effects:
- Prevent or decrease dependence on painkillers
- Avoid risky surgeries
- Have lesser risk of treatment rejection
- Relieve the chronic pain of some patients
- Improve the quality of life
- Mitigate the symptoms of progressive diseases
- Procedure
Doctors collect stem cells from the patient, then cultivate them in a lab. Once the cells are ready, they can be manipulated to turn into the types of cells a patient needs, like nerve, blood, or muscle cells. A solution of the cells will then be injected into the affected area. The therapy is quick, easy, and almost entirely pain-free, making it a simple outpatient procedure.
Who Should Try Stem Cell Therapy?
Active Individuals
People leading an active life are prone to injuries. Athletes will inevitably injure themselves somewhere along with their careers. The ability of stem cell therapy to help regenerate tissues may help them prevent possibly life-long injury. It also enables them to stay in their sport and maintain high-performance levels for a long time.
People Suffering From Chronic Pain
Patients who suffer from chronic pain due to degeneration of their joints may benefit from this therapy. Stem cell therapy encourages the regeneration and repair of their joints, making pain-free mobility possible. Studies also show that this therapy helps with inflammation and effectively reduces pain related to swelling.
Sports Injuries That Benefit from Stem Cell Therapy
Ligament Tears
Ligament tears usually occur in activities that require running and rapid change of direction. Athletes that play sports like soccer, basketball, and football are the most common patients. Less severe cases may only need bracing and rehabilitation, but this sports injury typically requires surgery.
Stem cell therapy can speed up recovery after surgery. Alternatively, stem cell therapy may be used along with other treatment modalities to address ligament tears.
Rotator Cuff Injuries, Tennis Elbow, and Golfer’s Elbow
Depending on the severity and your response to conservative treatments, rotator cuff tears, tennis elbow, and golfer’s elbow can be addressed with surgery. These injuries are common among golf, tennis, baseball, and swimming athletes.
Though there are improvements with surgical techniques, studies show that the tendon-to-bone adhesion healing rate is still unsatisfactory. A successful procedure requires the restoration of the delicate transitional tissue found between the tendon and bone.
Promising results of several stem cell therapy studies showed the growth of fibrous tissues that could mimic the original tissue. These results also provided better healing and orientation of the new muscles. Though studies are still lacking, this therapy is one way to alleviate the symptoms of your injury.
Early Osteoarthritis
Strenuous sports can significantly increase the risk of the development of early osteoarthritis. When joints and cartilages wear down, pain, swelling, and inflammation are likely to develop progressively.
Stem cell therapy has shown great results against osteoarthritis symptoms. The therapy is effective in restoring mobility in patients while decreasing or eliminating pain.
Cartilage Lesions
This injury is a more progressive type of joint degeneration due to sports injuries. These lesions are typically in cartilage where bones meet to form joints, like the knees and hips.
Studies show that stem cell therapy helps repair worn joints since it allows the growth of new cells. These new cells are great possible replacements for cartilage.
Stem Cell Treatment in Austin, TX
Stem cell treatment is an excellent way to supplement the treatment of orthopedic injuries or conditions. Stem cell therapy is noninvasive, promotes speedy recovery, and effectively alleviates pain. If you’re looking for stem cell treatment in Austin, TX, your search is over!
Here at All-Star Orthopedics of Austin, we are ready to help you address your sports injuries and other orthopedic concerns. We’re proud to say that our patients have reported excellent results from our expert care. We would like you to experience the same.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule a consultation, contact us at (512) 346-4933. You can also let us know you’re coming by securing an appointment through our online appointment form.
We look forward to helping you get back on your feet!
