There’s no doubt that as our bodies age, joints begin to ache and the thought of climbing stairs becomes more and more painful. But for anyone who is suffering from foot or ankle arthritis or even athletes who have sustained an injury, there may be an answer to the pain!
So many people are told that surgery is the only option when dealing with symptoms of foot and ankle pain, but at AllCare Foot & Ankle Center, we believe in trying a variety of options before recommending invasive surgery. For some of our patients, stem cell therapy may provide relief from symptoms without painful surgery and a long recovery time.
If you are living with intense or even chronic foot and ankle pain, our team of podiatrists want to help you find the relief you deserve!
Stem cells are a certain type of cell in the body from which specialty cells develop, including muscle cells, brain cells, ligament, tendon, bone, cartilage, and more, or they become new stem cells.
Also known as regenerative medicine, stem cell therapy uses these special cells to help repair diseased, dysfunctional, or injured tissue. Rather than using organ donations, which have a limited supply, stem cells can be grown in a lab and used for various procedures. For example, specialized cells could be transplanted into a person with heart disease, and the healthy heart muscle stem cells will help repair the patient’s heart.
While stem cells can be sourced in different ways, the most common method for ankle arthritis or foot pain treatment is to get the cells from fat in your own body. Fatty tissue that lies just below the skin, also known as adipose tissue, holds a large number of stem cells. A small sample of this tissue is taken from around the abdomen in order to harvest the stem cells. This process only requires a local anesthetic and there is little to no downtime after treatment. At AllCare Foot & Ankle Care we harvest stem cells from bone marrow and not fat, although other docs may get from fat.
The podiatrists at AllCare Foot & Ankle Care use stem cell therapy for a variety of conditions, including:
In most cases (depending on the severity of the damage and the location being treated), only one stem cell injection is necessary in order for the injury or dysfunctional muscle or tendon to recover. A significant benefit of stem cell therapy is that when a joint regenerates or pain from arthritis subsides, treatment is often no longer necessary — unless there is another injury.We have developed a specific technique to harvest stem cells from the distal tibia under local anesthesia. We have found with my specialized technique we are able to harvest a higher quantity of stem cells which will produce better outcomes.
After receiving stem cell therapy, patients typically experience relief from pain around three weeks after treatment, or up to between six and eight weeks. When patients begin feeling improvement, it is often a continuous improvement that lasts for months or even years. However, each patient is different and each condition or injury is unique, so it’s best to have a conversation with your podiatrist about the best treatment path.
If you are suffering from arthritis in the foot or ankle, or if you have sustained an injury, stem cell therapy could be an ideal option, especially if you want to avoid invasive surgery.
AllCare Foot & Ankle Care in Arlington and Dallas, Texas is proud to be able to offer our patients with innovative technology and treatment that can help provide long-lasting relief from pain. For more information, and to determine if you are a candidate for stem cell therapy, please give one of our foot doctors a call. We’ll take a close look at your case and decide if this treatment is right for you.
