Osteoarthritis is a common ailment that affects more than 32.5 million people in the United States alone. This condition directly affects the joints and bones, leading to pain and inflammation in various areas of the body. This pain and inflammation can make it difficult to perform your everyday activities, leading to a decline in quality of life.
There are many treatment options for osteoarthritis, including prescription painkillers and physical therapy. A more modern approach is regenerative medicine, and more specifically, stem cell therapy.
Learn more about osteoarthritis and how stem cells can be used to potentially help manage it.
What Is Osteoarthritis?
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease that breaks down the joints and makes changes to the surrounding bone structure. It can occur at any age, but it is most prevalent in older individuals who have been active throughout their lives. This is why it is sometimes referred to as the “wear and tear” disease.
Osteoarthritis can lead to the following symptoms:
- Stiffness
- Difficulty moving
- Pains and aches
- Decreased flexibility
- Poor range of motion
- Swelling around the joints
While osteoarthritis can occur anywhere in the body, it is most often found in the hands, knees, and hips. When symptoms become severe and impact daily life, patients often seek medical intervention.
Traditional treatments have involved a combination of anti-inflammatories and customized exercise plans. Now, there’s another potential therapy option patients are exploring more: stem cell therapy.
Stem Cells and Osteoarthritis
In recent years, stem cells have become a popular way to address a variety of medical concerns, including conditions like Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. One condition that may benefit from stem cell treatment is osteoarthritis.
Studies have shown that stem cell therapy may help regenerate new cartilage in patients with osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis commonly causes cartilage to break down in the joints of the knees, hips, and hands.
When stem cells are injected directly into the affected joint, they have regenerative properties to help stimulate new cell growth that both repairs damaged cartilage and generates new cartilage. Once damaged cartilage is repaired or replaced with healthy cartilage, it could alleviate much of the pain and discomfort associated with osteoarthritis.
There is still ongoing research to examine the relationship between stem cells and osteoarthritis. Studies are looking at how much improvement arthritis patients see with continued stem cell therapy.
If you are interested in exploring this new alternative therapy as a treatment to manage your osteoarthritis symptoms, speak to your doctor about regenerative medicine.
This post was written by a medical professional at Stemedix Inc. At Stemedix we provide access to Regenerative Medicine for osteoarthritis, also known as Stem Cell Therapy for Osteoarthritis. Regenerative medicine has the natural potential to help improve symptoms sometimes lost from the progression of many conditions.
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