The dreaded shoulder injury. One minute you are lifting weights at the gym or playing with the kids. The next, you feel a weird catch in your shoulder and pain starts shooting out. You’re terrified of what the doctor will say. Your shoulders are a pretty complex joint, so surgery isn’t easy.
What choice do you have, though? You kind of need your arms, after all. You rely on your shoulder to drive, carry groceries, even eat, and drink. And how long is the recovery time for shoulder surgery, anyway?
Luckily, surgery is no longer your only option. Stem cell therapy is a noninvasive, safe alternative to surgery that helps your body naturally grow new tissue to replace the damaged area. So, how does it work?
Concentrated Adult Stem Cells
If you don’t know exactly what a stem cell is, check out our other article that will answer questions you may have and dispel misconceptions.
When it comes to stem cell therapy, we are taking adult stem cells—typically from fatty tissue or bone marrow—and concentrating them on the damaged area via an injection. Once the cells are at the injured site, they naturally begin to produce the tissue needed to repair injuries like rotor cuff tears. While stem cells might not be enough to heal a full tear, they work great in treating partial tears. Stem cells are powerful. They can be useful in regrowing tendons, muscle, even cartilage.
Precision Implementation
With stem cell injections, it is essential that the treatment is implemented precisely where the cells are needed. For this reason, x-rays and ultrasounds are often used to guide the operation, so the injection is as close to the damage as possible. This ensures maximum effectiveness. Think of stem cell therapy like fixing a finely made watch. If one piece falls out of place, it takes incredible, exacting precision to set things right. You can’t just throw new gears and springs around in the general area of the break, hoping they fall into place and wedge themselves entirely into the broken area.
Outpatient Procedure
Shoulder surgery is complicated, not to mention invasive. This is another area where stem cell therapy shines. As an outpatient procedure, the whole operation is completed in about three hours without any general anesthesia. The best part? You can be back to normal life in just a couple of days and playing sports again within a few weeks.
No Surgery Necessary
As regenerative medical solutions continue to prove safe and effective, the need for invasive surgery in today’s day and age is slowly fading. More and more often, there are natural, noninvasive alternatives to traditional procedures. Stem cell therapy for shoulder and rotor cuff injuries is just one example. If you have a shoulder injury and are looking for natural ways to avoid surgery, make an appointment with 3D Integrated Medical today, and we will show you how regenerative medicine can be the 21st-century solution you are looking for.