Benefits of Stem Cell Therapy For Sports Injuries

Stem cell therapy is a form of regenerative medicine that can speed healing and tissue regeneration for a wide range of conditions. In particular, stem cell therapy can be highly effective in the treatment of sports injuries.

Sports put strain on the body and can put athletes at risk for injury. If you’re an athlete and have experienced an injury, we understand your urge to get back to your sport as quickly as possible. Stem cell therapy can speed up your recovery from a sports injury while preventing future injuries and complications.

What Are Stem Cells?

Stem cells are the cells that all types of cells in the body are created from. Think of stem cells like raw ingredients. Your body starts off with stem cells and, from those initial cells, is able to form muscle, bone, blood, heart, and even brain cells.

What Sets Stem Cells Apart

Stem cells are unique from other types of cells in the body because they’re able to reproduce themselves and even become a different type of cell to perform a particular function.

For instance, in stem cell therapy, a stem cell may be injected into an injured tendon so that it will reproduce into tendon cells. This will help replace the damaged tendon tissue with healthy tendon tissue.

In the case of sports injury treatment, stem cells are usually taken from the patient. Since the stem cells are sourced from the same person that the treatment will be administered to, you don’t have to worry about the body having an adverse reaction to a foreign substance.

How Can Stem Cell Therapy Benefit Sports Injuries?

As a non-standardized treatment method, the benefits of stem cell therapy for injuries is still debated today. However, expert researchers have found that when stem cells are applied to a sports injury, the treatment can yield a range of benefits.

Benefits of Stem Cells for Sports Injuries:

• Faster healing and recovery from the injury
• Reduced injury inflammation, as well as prevention of future inflammation
• Regeneration of injured tissue, such as bone, cartilage, tendon, and ligament tissue

What Types of Sports Injuries Can Stem Cells Be Used For?

Stem cells can be used in the treatment of both acute and overuse sports injuries. In particular, stem cells can be used to address damage to the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage.

Common Sports Injuries That Can Be Treated With Stem Cells:

• Achilles tendonitis
• Shin splints
• Sprains and strains
• ACL tear
• Tennis elbow
• Runner’s knee

This is just a small handful of the sports injuries that may benefit from stem cell therapy.

Dr. Neel Amin offers stem cell therapy to his patients as part of his multidisciplinary approach to pain. Contact us today to learn more about stem cells for sports injury treatment from Dr. Amin.

Sources:

Goswami, Gaurav. “Stem Cell Therapy for Sports Injuries.” Stem Cell Therapy for Sports Injuries, Sports-Health, 13 Apr. 2017, www.sports-health.com/treatment/regenerative-medicine/stem-cell-therapy-sports-injuries.

“Frequently Asked Questions about Stem Cell Research.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 8 June 2019, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-transplant/in-depth/stem-cells/art-20048117.