As an athlete, you subject your body to a lot of stress while training, which increases your risk of injury. Unfortunately, however, accidents happen.

At Regenerative Orthopaedics, we know how important it is to return to your sport as fast as possible after an accident. Luckily, it is possible to heal from a sports injury more quickly with stem cell therapy while also avoiding future complications.

Stem cell therapy is a regenerative medicine applicable to various conditions that require swift healing and tissue regeneration. That is why stem cell therapy is particularly beneficial in treating sports injuries.

What are Stem Cells?

Stem cells are the body’s basic materials; they produce specialized cells. Stem cells can divide in the body naturally or in a laboratory artificially, forming new cells known as “daughter cells.” These new cells become new stem cells or specialized cells, such as blood, brain, heart muscle or bone cells. No other cell can produce new cell types naturally like this.

It is possible to direct stem cells to differentiate (split) into particular cell types to regenerate and repair damaged or disease-affected tissues. In stem cell therapy, for example, a stem cell could be put into an injured tendon so that it can multiply into tendon cells. This will assist in healing by replacing compromised tendon tissue with healthy tendon tissue.

How Stem Cell Therapy Helps with Sports Injuries

If you choose to treat your sports injury with stem cells, you may experience the following benefits:

  • Reduced inflammation and avoidance of future inflammation
  • Reduced injury repair and recovery time
  • Tissue regeneration in wounded areas, including cartilage, bone, tendon and ligament tissue

Some patients say it takes up to six weeks to notice an improvement. However, once they start to feel better, they notice sustained progress over the next six months.

Which Sports Injuries Can Stem Cell Therapy Treat?

Both acute and overuse sports injuries can benefit from stem cell therapy. In particular, damaged muscles, cartilage, tendons and ligaments can be repaired using stem cells.
Common sports injuries stem cell therapy can treat include:

  • Achilles tendonitis
  • ACL tear
  • Runner’s knee
  • Sprains and strains
  • Shin splints
  • Tennis elbow

These are just a few examples. Stem cell therapy can help many other types of sports injuries. If you are in pain and want to recover as quickly as possible to resume your active lifestyle, please contact Dr. Steve Struhl for more information and to schedule a consultation today.