Tips for Choosing the Right Center for Stem Cell Therapy

Suffering from chronic pain in your hip, knee, or back can be unbearable. You may have tried various treatment options without luck. Now you are considering stem cell therapy as an alternative to surgery.
With the increase in popularity, stem cell clinics are popping up more frequently. Some are even making claims of cures for various diseases. Stem cell injections for orthopedic concerns such as joint pain are supported by scientific stem cell research.
So, how do you know what is valid and which stem cell offices are legitimate?
Read on to learn more about the applications of stem cell treatments and how to find the best stem cell center in Charlotte.
What is Stem Cell Therapy?
Stem cell therapy is a form of regenerative medicine that triggers the body’s own natural healing response to treat diseased, damaged, or injured joints or tissues. It is a non-surgical, minimally invasive treatment. Stem cell therapy is a highly effective treatment that helps patients achieve pain relief and improved mobility without surgery.
The treatment uses undifferentiated, baby cells from the patient’s body so there are little to no side effects. Stem cells are building blocks for other cells. They are able to reproduce themselves to become any other cell with specific functions such as blood, brain, muscle, and bone cells.
In regenerative medicine, stem cells help generate new healthy cells to replace the diseased or damaged ones.
Uses of Stem Cell Therapy
Mesenchymal stem cells are used to treat injuries, pain, and damaged tissue. These cells are found in bone marrow and adipose tissue. They help make and repair skeletal tissue including cartilage and bone.
Stem cells are harvested from the patient’s bone marrow, often in the hip, or adipose tissue. The cells are processed and then reinjected into the injury site where they trigger the immune system to generate new healthy cells and repair the damaged ones.
Stem cell injections reduce inflammation, release growth factors, and repair damaged tissues for long-lasting results.
How to find the Best Stem Cell Center
Now that you know all of the benefits of stem cell therapies, consider the following tips to find the best stem cell center.
1. Owned by a Licensed Physician
With the popularity of these procedures, many stem cell clinics are popping up and are run by providers who are not medical doctors. A legitimate stem cell center is run and operated by a licensed medical doctor. This ensures the success and safety of stem cell therapy.
2. Injected by a Board-Certified Physician
In addition, many illegitimate centers offering stem cell therapy have untrained staff members or nurses performing the treatment. Stem cell injections require precision and should only be performed by an experienced, board-certified physician.
3. Focused on Treatment of Injuries
Although stem cells can be injected nearly anywhere in the body, that does not make them effective. Be wary of a stem cell clinic that makes claims of treatments or cures for systemic diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease. Proven stem cell uses are limited to sports injuries and orthopedics.
4. Harvests Live Stem Cells from Bone Marrow and Fat Tissue
When researching stem cell centers, ask where they source or harvest their stem cells and if they use live stem cells. If the cells are not live or are low in volume, they will not promote cell regeneration, which is the point of stem cell treatment.
Adult stem cells are harvested directly from the patient’s bone marrow or adipose. When processed and reinjected into the body, these stem cells contain higher volumes of live stem cells to promote regeneration. Used in medical procedures, research shows the many benefits of bone marrow or adipose stem cells.
Benefits of stem cell therapy include:
- Few, if any, negative side effects
- Fast healing
- Short recovery period
- Treatment of inflammation from the current injury
- Prevention of inflammation from future injuries
- Tissue regeneration
5. Performs Image-Guided Procedures with Advanced Technology
State-of-the-art equipment is necessary to appropriately perform stem cell therapy. A trustworthy stem cell practice uses imaging to guide the injections to ensure proper placement. For the best results, it is crucial to have proper stem cell placement.
Schedule an Appointment
For chronic pain relief with a non-surgical, minimally invasive treatment method consider stem cell therapy in Charlotte with Advanced Sports & Spine.
Stem Cell Therapy at Advanced Sports & Spine
At Advanced Sports & Spine, from start to finish, all stem cell treatments are performed by Dr. Usman Ahmad, our board certified interventional pain physician. Performed as an outpatient procedure, stem cells are harvested from the patient’s bone marrow or adipose and are reinjected using the latest techniques and technology.
Our regenerative medicine therapies are affordable, help relieve chronic pain, and improve our patients’ quality of life as quickly as possible.
To learn more about stem cell therapy, contact Advanced Sports & Spine for an appointment today!