Arthritis is an autoimmune condition that affects at least 54 million Americans, and it’s one of the leading causes of joint pain and inflammation.
However, there’s a treatment that can relieve the symptoms of arthritis and slow down its progression: stem cell therapy.
Most cells are specialized. For example, a nerve cell can’t do the job of a blood cell. But when stem cells are in the presence of damaged tissue, they can morph into any type of cell and aid in the healing process.
Stem cell therapy involves the use of stem cells harvested from your blood, fat, or bone marrow to reduce inflammation, regulate immune response, and form new specialized cells in damaged tissue.
To help you determine if this procedure is right for you, our team at Dr. Louis Keppler & Associates put together a short guide on stem cell therapy and how it can help relieve arthritis pain.
Regulates immune response
The root cause of your arthritis pain is a flawed autoimmune response.
A 2015 study suggests that stem cell therapy can regulate immune response by increasing T cell levels. T cells are responsible for preventing your immune cells from attacking your tissue.
Lowers inflammation levels
Arthritis pain is often accompanied by inflammation and swelling. Chronic inflammation can worsen your condition by causing irreversible damage to your cartilage.
Anti-inflammatories are often used to prevent cartilage damage, but they also come with some health risks.
Stem cell therapy is a viable alternative to anti-inflammatory drugs. A study suggests that stem cell therapy is effective at protecting joints from inflammation caused by arthritis.
Encourages cartilage regeneration
Cartilage is the tissue that helps you move smoothly by preventing your bones from rubbing against each other.
However, your cartilage tissue breaks down when it gets attacked by your immune cells, and this can lead to pain.
A meta-analysis that looked at the effects of stem cell injections in patients suffering from arthritis found that stem cells can promote cartilage regeneration.
The long-term effects of stem cell therapy are also impressive. A five-year follow-up after stell cell injections done on patients suffering from late stages of osteoarthritis found that the treatment greatly slowed down cartilage degradation.
Learn more about how you can reduce pain caused by arthritis
Stem cell therapy is a noninvasive way to reduce pain, and it’s done on an outpatient basis.
Interested in learning more about stem cell therapy? Contact us to schedule an appointment at one of our offices in Independence, Ohio, and find out how to treat your arthritis pain.