GOOD NEWS FOR
Bad Joints
Bad knees , bad hips , bad ankles … joints are a tricky business . When arthritis inflames a joint , it becomes stiff and painful . That ’ s bad enough , but once the cartilage has worn away , patients wind up with a debilitating bone-on-bone condition and often consider having a knee replacement . Like any surgery , knee replacement involves significant downtime , pain management and recovery .
By Lisa Howard
Enter the next frontier of arthritic knee treatment : stem cells . “ We ’ re trying to avoid having patients go under the knife ,” says Danielle Stabley , a Physician Assistant at Allure who specializes in stem cell treatments . “ Regenerative medicine is here , and it ’ s here to stay . It ’ s all about patient education and letting people know that there is an alternative to knee replacement .” Unlike traditional knee replacement procedures , stem cell injections are non-surgical and involve very little downtime — just take it easy for 48 hours after the injections and plan on resuming your normal activities in a week . Compared to having surgery , stem cell treatments are also lower risk and less expensive .
“ The national average is that 95 percent of patients get at least a 50 percent improvement in pain levels with stem cell treatments .”
While knees are the most common joint to be affected by cartilage loss , any joint is a candidate for stem cell treatment . “ Stem cells regrow cartilage , so whether it ’ s your shoulder , your hip , your ankle or even your toe , we can treat that joint with stem cells ,” explains Danielle . Other candidates for stem cell treatments are patients suffering from autoimmune diseases , with MS patients in particular responding well to stem cells . That ’ s because the cells have the capacity to replace existing cells that have lost their ability to carry out their assigned tasks , whether that ’ s forming cartilage or nerve tissue . Healthy new cells mean restored function ; restored function means being able to return to your usual activities .
Part of the stem cell treatments at Allure involve improving overall lifestyle habits in conjunction with the treatments — that way , stem cells can provide maximum benefits for a longer length of time . A nutritionist is on hand to help patients shift to a more plant-based diet that includes lots of healthy greens , and patients are also given probiotics and prebiotics to promote healthy gut flora that can help reduce overall inflammation as well as make it easier to maintain a healthy weight . ( Less weight on joints = less stress on cartilage = longer-lasting cartilage .) Patients ’ hormone levels are also tested since often people with auto-immune conditions have low testosterone levels . Getting those into a normal range increases the efficacy of the stem cell treatments .
While auto-immune conditions require recurrent treatment , patients with joint issues typically only need one round of stem cell injections . “ The national average is that 95 percent of patients get at least a 50 percent improvement in pain levels with stem cell treatments ,” Danielle points out . In fact , some patients notice an immediate anti-inflammatory effect from the injections . It does take cartilage four to six months to start regrowing , however , so other patients see a gradual rather than immediate improvement . Severity makes a big difference , too — treating a patient with mild to moderate symptoms rather than moderate to severe symptoms means they ’ ll have a better outcome .
Currently , Allure ’ s Southgate , Livonia , Shelby , West Bloomfield , Warren , Clarkston and Beverly Hills locations offer stem cell treatments . As Allure expands its patient knowledge outreach , patients at their locations in Wisconsin , South Carolina and Kentucky will also have access to stem cell treatments . “ Ten years from now , I think there won ’ t be many knee replacements being done ,” Danielle says , “ because hopefully patients will start noticing their arthritis sooner and will start doing the regenerative treatments earlier on so that they never get to that bone-on-bone situation .”
That ’ s good news for our knees !
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