Find out if you are a candidate


Stem cell therapy, as practiced at Colorado’s thriveMD in Denver & Vail, is an innovative minimally invasive treatment that is part of the growing field known as regenerative medicine. Stem cell therapy utilizes your own adult stem cells to treat acute sports injuries and chronic joint, soft tissue and disc degeneration. The procedure provides your body the potential to heal itself naturally.

  • Do you have a nagging sports injury?
  • Do you experience pain due to arthritis?
  • Have you been told by other physicians that you have a joint that is ‘bone on bone’ and are a candidate for joint replacement surgery?
  • Are you experiencing back pain and looking to avoid spinal fusion surgery?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, read on to learn if stem cell therapy in Colorado may have the potential to get you back to living an active, healthy lifestyle.

What Are Stem Cells

Stem cells are the construction workers of the body’s repair mechanism. The primary role of stem cells is to maintain and initiate the healing of damaged tissue and replenish dying or damaged cells. Stem cells find the damaged tissue and have the potential to initiate its repair or regeneration.
stem cells under microscope, colorado

Definition of Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cell therapy, also referred to as stem cell treatment or cell therapy, helps the body repair itself naturally.

The cells neutralize inflammation and accelerate healing. They have the potential to regenerate injured cartilage tissue, tendons, bone, muscle, ligaments and vertebral annular disc cartilage.

To regenerate your body, stem cells find the damaged tissue and have the potential to initiate its repair or regeneration. The cells can stimulate your body’s own natural healing processes. This technique begins by harvesting a patient’s own stem cells found in both adipose (fat) tissue and bone marrow, concentrating the cells into a small injectable volume, and then reintroducing the cells into the area of concern. This process is backed by research and stimulates the body to repair and replace tissue that has broken down over time or has been traumatized from injury or overuse.

Dr. Scott Brandt, medical director at Colorado’s ThriveMD, is one of the few select physicians in the country to be trained in the groundbreaking technique that is saving many patients from undergoing invasive knee replacement or hip replacement surgery, spinal fusion surgery, and other invasive surgical procedures.


Contact our Vail or Denver office to find out if you could be a candidate for stem cell therapy.

Where Do Adult Stem Cells Come From

Do you have an idea of the natural healing potential that is available in your body?

Read on to find out where your body stores these powerful stem cells.

Adult stem cells are autologous, i.e. harvested from your own body as a part of your stem cell procedure. They are undifferentiated cells found among differentiated cells within the body. Their primary role is to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are located.

Adult stem cells are found in the highest concentration in adipose (fat) tissue. In smaller concentrations, they are additionally found in your bone marrow. Beyond what is used for harvesting, stem cells are also found in blood, skin, muscles, and organs.

Adipose tissue provides the largest volume of adult stem cells (1,000 to 2,000 times the number of cells per volume found in bone marrow). Bone marrow provides some stem cells but more importantly provides a large volume of growth factors to aid in the repair process. In addition to adult stem cells, fat tissue also contains numerous other regenerative cells that are important to the healing process.

Stem cells derived from adipose fat tissue have been shown to be a much better source for the repair of cartilage degeneration and recent studies have demonstrated its superior ability to differentiate into cartilage.

There are some myths and misconceptions about stem cells and where the cells come from. Dr. Brandt has dedicated a blog post to the important topic.

Conditions Treated by Adult Stem Cells in Vail & Denver, Colorado

Stem Cells for Joints & Soft Tissue

stem cell therapy for joints & soft tissue pain colorado

Joint and soft tissue injuries can be treated by stem cell treatment in Colorado. Stem cells can often improve function and reduce pain in patients with chronic osteoarthritis. In addition, acute injuries such as partial ligament and tendon tears can also be treated. Stem cells can potentially improve post-surgical recovery times and are quickly becoming a viable alternative to joint replacement surgery.

Severe knee, Achilles tendon, hip and shoulder pain are commonly treated conditions at ThriveMD’s facilities in Vail and Denver, Colorado. Patient’s with golfer’s elbow or tennis elbow, as well as patients with skiing-related conditions and injuries,  can also be candidates for stem cell therapy to provide improve function and dramatically reduce pain.

Stem Cells for Back Pain

stem cell therapy for back pain colorado

Patients suffering from low back pain due to disc disease may be able to utilize stem cell therapy to decrease inflammation, reduce pain, improve hydration as well as increase disc height. Colorado stem cell therapy is becoming a viable alternative to spinal fusion surgery for many patients suffering from degenerative disc disease (DDD). Please refer to back pain stem cell reviews published online and shared in patient follow-ups.

Central back pain, which can commonly be caused by whiplash type injuries, often results in damage to the facet joints. Like other joint damage, facet joints can be treated with stem cells.

Stem cell therapies address the defects at all stages of the erectile process.

Stem cell therapy for the treatment of erectile dysfunction utilizes both the patient’s own stem cells and growth factors to achieve a natural male enhancement that helps regenerate erectile tissue and improve erections, sexual performance and penis size. A combination of the patient’s own sources of these cell and growth factors are used to achieve maximum effect.

Advantages of Stem Cell Therapy

  • No risk of rejection – autologous stem cells are harvested from and reintroduced into your own body.
  • Minimally invasive – stem cell treatments are minimally invasive, in strong contrast to traditional treatments such as joint replacement. The procedures are out-patient and performed in approximately 3 hours. Patients generally do not require any post operative pain medication. Risks such as the increased likelihood of heart attack that have recently been found to be associated to the invasive character of hip or knee replacement are not present in stem cell treatments.
  • Avoiding surgery – we have use stem cells to help many patients avoid knee surgery such as knee replacement or athroscopy, find alternative to back surgery such as spinal fusion or lumbar disc replacement, and avoid many other orthopedic surgeries
  • Rebuilding your own healthy tissue
  • When timing your stem cell procedure, there is no need to consider the demanding recovery typical to surgery
  • No general anesthesia – due to the minimally invasive character, only mild oral medications are necessary.
  • No cummunicable disease transmission.
  • Fast recovery – stem cell patients can return to work in 1-2 days and do typically not require bracing or crutches.
  • Significant pain reduction
  • Increased mobility
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Harvesting Biologics for a Stem Cell Procedure

stem cell biologic
  1. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is harvested through a peripheral blood draw.
  2. Bone marrow is obtained from a patient’s iliac crest under live x-ray guidance. The cells are then concentrated using a centrifuge process. Local anesthetic is utilized.
  3. Adipose (fat) tissue is obtained through a mini liposuction procedure. Adipose tissue is the most abundant source of adult stem cells. It has the highest concentration of stem cells per volume (up to 1,000 times as much as bone marrow).

ThriveMD believes patient goals are best achieved by using a combination of all three above mentioned biologics.

What to Expect from a Stem Cell Procedure

patient-expectations

A patient’s specific procedure will be decided upon during a one-on-one consultation at one of the two locations of the Colorado clinic. Below is a brief general guideline of what to expect. You can find a detailed outline on our dedicated stem cell procedure page.

  1. Consultation
  2. Stem cell harvest and separation
  3. Stem cell injection
  4. Regenerative process – begins within the first 3 months, continues for up to 1 year.
  5. Follow-up treatment -4 weeks after the initial injection, patients return to ThriveMD for a PRP and/or bone marrow injection. This booster provides additional growth factors and/or cells to support the ongoing healing process.

Stem cell therapy is a minimally invasive procedure that is performed at our office as an out-patient procedure.

A stem cell patient’s personal experience at ThriveMD has been written by Cordillera Life Magazine. The patient used stem cells to avoid hip replacement surgery and relieve lower back pain.

Am I a Candidate for Stem Cell Therapy

ThriveMD determines whether you are a candidate for stem cell therapy at a one-on-one consultation at one of our Colorado facilities. Steps such as careful physical examination and review of appropriate imaging (x-ray and/or MRI) take place. To learn more about what can make your condition suitable, please view one of the specific sections below.

Is Stem Cell Therapy Safe?

Yes. The risks of stem cell therapy are minimal and often misunderstood.

By using adult stem cells from your own adipose (fat) tissue and bone marrow, the body accepts the new tissue as its own, eliminating the risk of rejection. Also, because the stem cells are from your own body, there is no risk of contracting a transmittable infectious disease from a donor patient. Other risks associated to joint replacement surgery, such as the increased risk of heart attack in the first month post knee and hip replacement procedures, is avoided as well.

Like any procedure, there is a minute risk of infection at the liposuction site of the fat collection and at the injection site. To minimize that risk, you will be provided with 7 day course of antibiotics.

What Colorado Stem Cell Patients Say

ThriveMD is delighted to receive stem cell reviews on Facebook and Google. If you have been a patient at one of our Colorado stem cell clinics, please leave yours as well. Alternatively, email it to us and we will include your quote on our page dedicated to stem cell testimonials & reviews.

“Best medical decision I ever made! The stem cell procedure is quick, easy and has no recovery down time! Great alternative to surgery if that is an option. Dr. Brandt and his team are first class. I highly recommend them as your first choice!”*

Brenda from Grandby, Colorado, patient follow-up

“The injections in soft tissue of left replaced knee have made a Huge difference. The right knee is continuing to get better noticeably each week. Everything I do is getting easier because I’m not in constant pain. I never want another knee replacement. My experience with Thrive has been enjoyable.”*

Harvey from Vail Valley, Colorado, patient follow-up
*Individual patient results may vary. Contact us today to find out if stem cell therapy may be able to help you.

Scott Brandt, MD

Meet Our Doctor, Dr. Scott Brandt

Dr. Scott Brandt completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and attended medical school at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He then completed his anesthesiology residency training and internship at the University of Illinois and Michael Reese Hospitals in Chicago. Dr. Brandt has trained extensively across the country and become one of the nation’s top stem cell therapy doctors. He provides the highest quality patient care available. He continues to incorporate advancements in the field as rapidly as scientific evidence supports their addition. This combined with Dr. Brandt’s unparalleled expertise in minimally invasive injection techniques, utilizing live image guidance, allows him to ensure the best biologic solutions are placed exactly in the areas of tissue damage.

Our Clinics

Denver Office:

7400 E Caley Ave #150
Centennial, CO 80111

(720) 575-7878

Vail Office:

280 Main St C-104
Edwards, CO 81632

(970) 766-8245

Next Step

If you believe you or someone you care about could be a candidate for stem cell therapy administered by a trusted clinic, please contact us today.