Bone Marrow Stem Cell Therapy in Denver and Colorado Springs
Harness your body’s natural ability to heal. Bone marrow 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 Bone Marrow Stem Cells?
Bone marrow 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 Bone Marrow Stem Cell Therapy
Bone marrow 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 Bone Marrow 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 bone marrow 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 Bone Marrow Stem Cell Therapy
Regeneration over Relief: Unlike PRP, which boosts existing healing factors, bone marrow 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 Bone Marrow 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
Bone marrow 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: Bone Marrow Stem Cell Therapy vs PRP
| Feature | Bone Marrow 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, bone marrow stem cell therapy may be the right option for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Currently considered investigational for orthopedic use. The FDA has approved bone marrow 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 bone marrow 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 bone marrow stem cells in a synergistic manner.
The bone marrow stem cell procedure at MD Pain follows a clear, proven process. Before your appointment, our team reviews your medical history, including any prior injuries, and advises patients to avoid anti-inflammatory medications for two weeks to ensure the healing process is not interrupted. On procedure day, bone marrow stem cells are harvested from the patient’s own body under local anesthesia, then processed in the clinic for one to three hours using a centrifuge machine. Finally, guided injections are placed into the diseased or damaged tissue, such as damaged cartilage, knee joints, or the shoulder. This non-surgical procedure allows the body’s ability to repair damaged cells naturally.
Yes, bone marrow stem cell therapy is considered a safe procedure with minimal complications. Because injected bone marrow stem cells usually come from the patient’s own body, the risk of immune rejection is very low. Mild discomfort or swelling may be felt for a few days after the procedure, but most patients return to light activity quickly. Healing will continue over weeks to months, with progressive improvement expected over a six to twelve-month period. At MD Pain, every step of the preparation process and follow-up is carefully managed to ensure safety.
After the procedure, patients often notice mild pain or swelling near the affected area, which typically subsides within days. Light activity can usually be resumed soon after, though we recommend avoiding heavy load-bearing activities for at least two weeks. The injected bone marrow stem cells continue their healing process for several months, working within the extracellular matrix to repair damaged tissues and restore blood flow to the diseased region. Over six to twelve months, most patients report steady improvements in symptoms, reduced inflammation, and better function of the musculoskeletal system.
Both bone marrow stem cell therapy Denver and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are regenerative therapies offered at MD Pain, but they work in slightly different ways. PRP therapy uses concentrated blood platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells from the patient’s blood to accelerate healing, while bone marrow stem cell therapy includes adult bone marrow stem cells or adipose-derived bone marrow stem cells that repair damaged cartilage and support long-term tissue regeneration. In many cases, our medical director may recommend combining PRP and bone marrow stem cell procedures for treating orthopedic conditions like arthritis, rotator cuff tears, or sports injuries. This comprehensive approach helps maximize the body’s ability to heal and reduce pain over time.