Stem Cell Therapy in Sports Injuries
Sport is identified as one of the great habits that allow you to enjoy an active lifestyle, and helps improve health. Although it is assumed that, sometimes an injury may occur, it is considered that the benefits it brings always outweigh the inconveniences.
Regardless of age, countless people suffer from muscle and joint injuries due to professional or amateur sports activities, such as muscle strain, rotator cuff tear, tennis elbow, and knee injuries. Throughout life these types of injuries can occur and constitute a serious problem for functional disability and pain.
A few years ago, if an athlete suffered a major injury to a bone or muscle, there were few ways to recover. If the option of medication rest did not give results, entering the operating room was the next step.
Nowadays, technology has evolved and the use of stem cells is one of the procedures that every day gains more followers worldwide. But what is the purpose of this treatment? Stem cells are cellular organisms that aim to participate in the regeneration of tissues that are already damaged.
Conventional medicine for joint and muscle pain includes the use of analgesics, anti-inflammatory medications, steroids or local medications. All these treatments come with side effects such as gastritis, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, renal or hematological toxicity and do not solve the problem in question.
The stem cell therapy offered and applied for 2 years with very successful results, the North East Joint and Wellness center for injuries is a new alternative for athletes and physically active people. In the last decade, the use of stem cell therapy in sports injuries has increased.
Why stem cell therapy for sports injuries?
Due to many reasons, as we age, our body does not have the natural ability to heal itself. After trauma or injury, the body immediately attempts to repair itself, however most of these sports injuries occur in cells or tissues that have very limited regenerative abilities, immune system cells released, biochemical substances and molecules in the bloodstream. To start the repair and bring other cells to repopulate the area, regenerate the tissue and finally make a scar. Throughout this process there will be pain, not only due to the injury itself, but also due to the inflammation that was started to heal the damage.
First, stem cells have properties that can control inflammation (immunoregulation). Second, they release growth factors that can stimulate the production of other cells necessary to repair the tissue (wound healing). Third, they can increase the vasculature (blood flow) to the area, which increases the healing capacity. Finally, they can replace damaged cells. Although stem cells are not analgesic, they can relieve joint and muscle pain by acting on the causes that cause it. Therefore, a symptom such as pain is controlled by direct treatment of the cause, and in cases of osteoarthritis, these treatments may avoid the need for joint replacement.
It has been proven that the use of stem cells significantly shortens the healing time; For example, in muscle injuries, it is shortened by 30% to 50%. It also improves the quality of the scar, which causes fewer relapses.
The benefits of this regenerative therapy through a minimally invasive procedure consisting of the application of their own adult stem cells, which once introduced, these cells show an amazing ability to help regenerate the damaged organs, in addition to improving blood supplies and circulation to affected organs and tissues. This procedure can be completed in a period of approximately 4-5 hours by highly qualified doctors. Since patients will be treated with local anesthesia, the procedure is virtually painless and easily adapts to an active lifestyle.
