Stem Cell Therapy at MD Pain
Harness your body’s natural ability to heal. Stem cell therapy is a minimally invasive regenerative treatment designed to repair damaged joints, tendons, ligaments, and soft tissues, providing relief and restoring function without traditional surgery.
What Are Stem Cells?
Stem cells are unique, undifferentiated cells capable of self-renewal and transforming into specialized cell types for repair. At MD Pain, we use your own mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), typically harvested from bone marrow or adipose tissue for safe, autologous treatment.
Conditions Treated with Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cell therapy is ideal for patients who have not found relief with conventional treatments and may benefit from tissue regeneration:
- Osteoarthritis (e.g., knee, hip, shoulder)
- Partial tendon and ligament tears (rotator cuff, MCL, hamstrings, tennis elbow)
- Chondral (cartilage) injuries
- Soft-tissue injuries and degenerative joint conditions
Where Do the Stem Cells Come From?
We ethically use autologous stem cells, derived from a small bone marrow aspirate or adipose tissue taken from your body. Embryonic stem cells are not used. Your tissue sample is processed in our sterile lab to concentrate MSCs, platelets, and growth factors for targeted injection.
How Does the Treatment Work?
Harvest: A brief outpatient bone marrow or fat collection from the pelvis or abdomen.
Processing: Samples are centrifuged in our facility to isolate MSCs and healing factors.
Injection: The concentrated stem cell mixture is injected under image guidance (e.g., ultrasound) to the affected tissue.
Regeneration: MSCs exert effects via differentiation, anti-inflammatory signaling, recruiting repair cells, and promoting tissue remodeling.
Benefits of Choosing Stem Cell Therapy
Regeneration over Relief: Unlike PRP, which boosts existing healing factors, stem cells have the potential to form new tissue and repair damage directly.
- Minimally Invasive: Performed in-office with minimal downtime and risk.
- Natural & Autologous: Uses your own cells - no foreign tissue or immune reaction risk.
- Long-Lasting Outcomes: May delay or eliminate the need for surgery in many degenerative cases
What to Expect: The Stem Cell Process
Before Your Appointment
- Medical history review, including prior injuries
- Avoid NSAIDs or anti-inflammatory medications for two weeks prior
On Procedure Day
- Harvest performed under local anesthesia
- In-clinic processing, approximately 1-3 hours
- Guided injection into the affected area
- Moderate procedural time depending on harvest method
Recovery Details
- Mild discomfort or swelling is common in the days following injection
- Return to light activity within days; healing continues over weeks to months
- Progressive functional improvement expected over 6-12 months
Safety, Risks & Limitations
Stem cell therapy has a favorable safety profile when performed autologously. Rare risks include infection at harvest/injection site or slight bleeding. Though promising, outcomes are not guaranteed, and research is evolving, especially for some indications where evidence remains preliminary.
Comparison: Stem Cell Therapy vs PRP
| Feature | Stem Cell Therapy | PRP Therapy |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Bone marrow or adipose-derived MSCs | Concentrated platelets from blood plasma |
| Healing Mechanism | Differentiates into new tissue; anti-inflammatory signaling; remodeling | Delivers growth factors to amplify natural healing |
| Best For | Moderate-to-severe tissue loss or degeneration | Mild-to-moderate injuries or early-stage degenerative conditions |
| Procedure Complexity | Harvest + lab processing; longer procedure | Simple blood draw and centrifugation |
| Evidence Base | Emerging; fewer large-scale randomized trials | Better-studied evidence for tendinopathy and early osteoarthritis |
Schedule a Regenerative Medicine Consultation
At MD Pain, our board-certified interventional specialists are leading the way in ethical, cutting-edge regenerative medicine. If you're facing persistent joint or soft tissue pain and looking for a non-surgical solution, stem cell therapy may be the right option for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Currently considered investigational for orthopedic use. The FDA has approved stem cell treatments for certain blood disorders but not yet for musculoskeletal disease.
Because it’s classified as experimental, most insurance plans, including Medicare, do not cover stem cell treatments.
Many patients benefit from one treatment; others may benefit from repeat injections based on the degree of tissue damage.
Yes, combination protocols can enhance outcomes by delivering growth factors alongside stem cells in a synergistic manner.