Prior to the availability of these treatments, a joint replacement might be one of your limited options. How are these treatments revolutionizing arthritis care?īoth stem cells and PRP work in different ways to activate your body's natural healing process. Platelets are a type of blood cell that your immune system uses to assess cellular damage and deliver an appropriate healing and restoration response. It consists of concentrated platelets drawn from your own blood. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a therapy that can be done alone or in conjunction with stem cells. You have stem cells because when you were just a zygote in your mother's womb, a few cells needed to build a whole baby. However, as you age, your stem cells age with you and become less effective at promoting healing. Stem cell therapy solves this problem. Unlike a heart muscle cell or nose cartilage cell that can only ever be the cell that DNA told them to be, stem cells can divide and change into other cells to help replenish cells in parts of the body that have been damaged by injury or wear and tear. Stem cells are your body's versatile reinforcement cells. You've probably heard about it and may be wondering what these treatments are. Can they really relieve arthritis pain? Here's the science behind these effective arthritis treatments. Just like the polio vaccine or penicillin stopped life-long suffering and countless premature deaths in the early 20th century, stem cells and PRP are disrupting how we manage the age-old problem of arthritis, a condition that affects nearly 23% of adults with the bulk of those patients over 50. Most medical procedures today have slowly built upon past knowledge and studies to get better and more effective, but only a few times in a generation do we see major medical research breakthroughs that change everything for people suffering from certain diseases.

Stem cell therapy for knees