Surgery is often presented as the final option for people with severe back pain. When other treatments like rest, medication and physical therapy fail, many patients are forced to consider surgical treatments that not only frequently require lengthy recovery times, but that also create periods of even greater pain.
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But what if there was an alternative to back surgery that wasn’t nearly as risky, had fewer side effects and utilized your body’s own cells to repair damage and restore function? Research from the past thirty years points to stem cell therapy as a viable and extremely beneficial option for many people with debilitating back problems. Here’s why:
Stem Cell Therapy Facilitates a Natural Healing Process
Unlike medications, steroid injections and surgery, stem cell therapy utilizes the body’s own cells to promote healing. Rather than introducing a foreign substance into a patient, a trained physician uses a needle to inject a patient’s own stem cells. Stem cells are a special type of cell; they are not “programmed” to be any certain type of cell, but rather have the ability to develop into many different kinds. This is important because it means that stem cells can be harvested from healthy adult tissues (either bone marrow or fat/adipose tissue when treating back problems) and reintroduced into an area of the body (in this case, the back) that is injured, diseased or otherwise deteriorated by age with the expectation that they can and will develop into healthy cells, repairing and replacing the damaged cells over time. By eliminating the introduction of foreign materials (such as the metals, plastics and/or bone grafts often used to fuse and replace joints), the body is possibly spared many potential complications (such as infection, inflammation, allergic immune response, pain, rejection and even cancer).
Stem Cell Therapy is Often a Faster and Less Dangerous Alternative to Back Surgery
Having spine surgery is a big deal. It requires a hospital stay, general anesthesia and often a long recovery, all of which carry heightened risks. Cutting into and opening the spine exposes the patient to potential bleeding issues, nerve damage, infection, and loss of function.
Stem cell therapy, however, is an out-patient procedure done under IV sedation in an office-based procedure suite, thus minimizing structural tissue damage, infection risk, and post-operative downtime. Most patients can return to work within a day or two following a stem cell procedure as compared to weeks and sometimes months of downtime following major interventional spine surgery.
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Choosing the best way to treat an orthopedic problem is a decision best made under the consultation of a reputable and experienced physician. An alternative to back surgery, stem cell therapy has the potential to regenerate tissue damage, reduce pain and restore quality of life for many people. If you would like to know if your condition could benefit from stem cell therapy, please call ThriveMD for an appointment. Dr. Scott Brandt and the rest of our team has extensive expertise in minimally invasive stem cell injection techniques using live image guidance and can help you determine if stem cell therapy is an option for you.