Regenerative cell
treatments and PRP may offer an unconventional alternative to knee surgery or
knee replacement.
Medica Stem Cells
regenerative treatments are minimally invasive non-surgical procedures.
Treatments provide long-lasting relief from symptoms with minimal downtime and
enhance recovery within a short period using your own body's healing power to
treat knee arthritis and knee-related injuries. Our patients benefit from
reduced pain and enhanced functionality of the knee without undergoing surgery
or knee replacement.
Can Regenerative Therapy Revitalize Your Knee Joint Without
Surgery?
Imagine climbing the
stairs where your knee catches and buckles with severe ache. What happens if
you fall unexpectedly and if you are unable to get up? You may not be ready to
consult a physician as you would have seen your relatives spent more on
procedures that did not prove to be effective.
No worries! We are
here to help you understand your natural healing mechanism through regenerative
cellular therapies. It is time to get back to your active life without knee
surgery!
Before we go through
the potential knee problems and treatment, let us know the anatomy and working
mechanism of the knee joint.
Knee Joint
Anatomy
The knee joint is composed of bones, tendons, ligaments,
cartilage and bursal sac. All these parts work with coordination to help us
walk, jump, and bend down.
Bones: There are three types of bones in the knee, namely
femur, tibia, and patella. The knee joint connects the tibia (shin bone) and
the femur (thigh bone), including a protective bony cover named patella
(kneecap). Femur and tibia end as a rounded protuberance named condyle, which
forms the part of the knee joint.
Knee cartilage is otherwise called as the knee
meniscus. There are two types of knee meniscus, namely medial (inside) and
lateral (outside). It is located between the femur and the tibia. It helps in
distributing the body weight and protects the bones from friction.
Tendons connect
bone to muscle. There are two types of tendons, namely quadriceps tendon and
patellar tendon. The quadriceps tendon connects the patella to the large thigh
muscle named quadriceps muscle. The patellar tendon attaches to the tibia.
Ligaments hold
bones or cartilage together. There are two types of ligaments, namely anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL) and the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). ACL lies at
the front part of the knee
joint while PCL lies at the back. They hold femur and tibia together to
stabilize the knee joint.
Bursa sac
consists of lubricating fluid that remains as a cushion between the bones in
the knee joint to reduce friction.
The function of knee joint
Imagine a door that opens and closes with the help of a
hinge. Similarly, the knee joint is considered as a flexible hinge that aids in
mobility. You can normally move your leg in front-to-back and side-to-side
motion. In case of improper joint movement due to worn-out shoes or trauma,
acute knee injuries may occur.
Similarly, the knee is also considered as the weight-bearing
joint. It is the knee joint that balances a person’s weight. In the case of
obesity, excess pressure falls on the knee joint, which may lead to cartilage
damage, degeneration, or wear and tear.
Common knee joint problems
Varied knee problems that cause knee joint pain and the
associated symptoms like stiffness, tenderness, restricted range of motion,
swelling, cracking noise include:
·
Knee bursitis (Bursa inflammation)
·
Tendonitis (Tendon inflammation)
·
Osteoarthritis (degenerative knee joint disease)
·
Torn meniscus (cartilage wear and tear)
·
Knee ligament tear (ACL/PCL injury)
·
Knee bone spur
·
Fracture/sprained knee
·
Iliotibial band (ITB) syndrome – Knee pain due
to worn-out or poorly fitting shoes
·
Hamstring injury (Tear of the tendons or muscles
at the back of the thigh)
·
Other sports-related injuries such as athlete
injury, football or soccer injury
Pain and associated symptoms become worse during the rainy
season, in the mornings, and after prolonged sitting.
What are the conventional
methods to relieve knee pain?
Treatment for knee pain includes both
surgical and non-surgical procedures which aim to improve the strength and
function of joints by controlling the symptoms and avoid further joint damage.
Initial treatment includes home
remedies that focus on limiting the activities that may aggravate the symptoms.
Hence, physicians recommend R.I.C.E. Formula (Rest, Ice, Compression, and
Elevation) as a home treatment.
Rest: Wear knee pads for extra cushion
effect and avoid putting any extra pressure by leaning on the knees. This
activity modification step can help reduce pain and inflammation.
Ice therapy: Apply ice therapy on the
injured knees 2-3 times for 10-20 minutes per day to reduce symptoms. But remember
not to apply ice directly on the skin. Place a cloth between the ice and the
affected area to stay away from getting an ice-burn.
Compression: Wear an elastic
compression bandage around the affected part to alleviate the swelling.
Elevation: Place the affected knee
above the height of your heart to reduce inflammation
Activity modification such as
reducing activities like knee bending and climbing stairs may helpin preventing
the condition from getting worse. Physicians may recommend physical therapy,
muscle strengthening exercises, or using assistive devices like canes, once you
are relieved from knee pain.
Medications such as analgesics aim to
reduce the pain, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) helps in
reducing pain and inflammation. But its consumption for a long time leads to
potential side effects including heart, gastrointestinal, and kidney problems
[3].
Administration of corticosteroid
injections into the knee provides short-term relief for only 1-3 weeks by
reducing inflammation, but they have systemic and local adverse side effects.
Surgical methods include joint
distraction, knee arthroscopy, knee osteotomy, knee bone spur surgery, meniscus
surgery, and partial or total joint replacement. Your physician may recommend
these options if non-surgical methods do not yield any improvement. But joint
replacement surgery is only considered as the last resort since it requires a
prolonged duration of rehabilitation post-surgery to regain flexibility and
strength.
What is the principle of regenerative cell therapy?
Your body can heal by itself. That is
the motto of regenerative cell therapy. Let us see how the body heals.
If you cut your finger, it bleeds. It
then forms a scab like structure. Ultimately, it is the healing cell beneath
the scab that seals the injury and stop the bleeding. Similarly, your body can
also examine the signs of damage and repair them using its healing cells.
Regenerative cell therapy is a
non-surgical procedure that provides long-lasting relief from the symptoms with
minimal downtime and enhances recovery within a short period. It has no side
effects since the injection involves your blood. So, there is no chance of
rejection or cross-transmission of disease.
Advancement of regenerative therapy over conventional methods
A study published in NPJ Regenerative
Medicine revealed that regenerative cell therapy may provide better pain relief
compared to NSAIDs drugs and corticosteroid injections [1].
Recent research shows that provides
more long-term relief from joint pain and enhances the quality of life in a shorter
duration compared to corticosteroid injections. People may think that PRP
injection is just like a cortisone shot. But it is not so. Long-term
administration of cortisone injections will suppress the body’s natural healing
mechanism and leads to knee replacement surgery in the future. But PRP therapy
repairs the injured tissue by naturally promoting your body’s healing function.
Hence, you need not have to undergo surgery in your later stage [2].
Surgery may promote knee degeneration
which leads to undergoing the same surgery once again in the future.
Additionally, the incidence of pain after the surgery is high around 20%, in
addition to anaesthesia and surgery associated risks. With the advent of PRP
therapy, surgery can be easily avoided [4].
So, what are you waiting for? Turn
back the clock and start leading an active pain-free life by opting for
regenerative cell therapy!
If you feel you may benefit from
regenerative therapies, please contact us at our London clinic on 020 8 168
2000 or our Ireland clinic on 01 298 8000 to book a consultation or request a callback today! We
will take a close look at your case and evaluate if you are a qualified
candidate for regenerative therapy.
References
Iijima, H., Isho, T., Kuroki, H.,
Takahashi, M., & Aoyama, T. (2018). Effectiveness of mesenchymal stem cells
for treating patients with knee osteoarthritis: a meta-analysis toward the
establishment of effective regenerative rehabilitation. NPJ Regenerative
medicine, 3(1), 1-13.
Forogh B, Mianehsaz E, Shoaee S,
Ahadi T, Raissi GR, Sajadi S. Effect of single injection of Platelet-Rich
Plasma in comparison with corticosteroid on knee osteoarthritis: a double-blind
randomized clinical trial. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2015 Jul 14. [Google Scholar]
Cooper C, Chapurlat R, Al-Daghri N,
et al (2019). Safety of Oral Non-Selective Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory
Drugs in Osteoarthritis: What Does the Literature Say? Drugs Aging. 36(Suppl
1):15–24. doi:10.1007/s40266-019-00660-1.
Gautam Das, Debjyoti Dutta, et al
(2019). Platelet-rich Plasma Injection in Osteoarthritis of the Knee? Journal
on Recent Advances in Pain, 5(1): 1-15
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