Stem Cell Therapy for Sports Injury

Out of the Game? Can Stem Cells Help?

Being sporty means being alive, everyone loves sports and for some of us, it is in our blood. It is a significant part of our lives we can’t imagine living without. The beautiful moments of struggle to win or just for fun are some of the cherished instances that everyone loves. The nightmare comes when you cannot play anymore. The injuries seem to be normal for the first instances, but the continual and regurgitating pain strides long after. In your teens, you have found yourself out of the game, and henceforth you become a fan.

The moment you get out of the game, it always seems like your whole world of play is shattered. Unfortunately, it is very common – many have to retire early out of their sports profession before reaching their peak of play. These, coupled with many other instances are some of the many occasions that we have seen where one leaves the favourite game behind because of the injuries.

To every sportsperson the term strains and sprains are normal; sprains are the injuries to ligaments which are tough bands connecting bones at the joint while strains are tendon or muscle fibre injuries. The pop sound that is always heard, sharp tears, they mean an overstretch of the ligaments which make them tear. The strains, commonly referred to as pulled muscles are caused by overusing the muscles which also causes tears. Some of the common injuries in sports such as ankle sprain, groin pull, hamstring strain, shin splints, knee injury or tennis elbow among others are difficult to manage yet every sportsperson has a higher chance of getting them.

Luckily there is a way out. You can go back to play. If you retired after the sports injury, you don’t have to live your life in despair due to the injuries that have nearly become a lifetime situation. In our experience at StemFinityCord, we have established that many sports injuries and complications are preventable or even reversible.

We present to every sportsperson, stem cell therapy, a model popular in the field of sports medicine for treating damaged tendons, ligaments, muscles and cartilage.

How Stem Cell Therapy for Sports Injuries Work

Stem cells are mostly obtained from the patient through the harvesting process. While the harvesting of cells can be done from the patient’s fat, blood or bone marrow scientifically the most potent cells are the mesenchymal stem cells extracted FRESH (freezing them negatively impacts the efficacy) from umbilical cord Wharton Jelly. These are the most effective source since stem cells are at the peak condition.

Our specialists have determined the mechanism of action for stem cells in treating sports injuries such as Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tears through the following processes:

• The stem cells once injected or administered into the affected areas are believed to develop into the needed musculoskeletal cells such as tendons, ligaments, bone cells or cartilage. This ensures a proper healing process and makes muscles and tendons more firm thus not susceptible to recusing injuries.
• Encourage the growth of new blood vessels. At StemFinityCord, our specialists use mesenchymal stem cells since they are immune privileged and can transform into new blood vessels replacing the raptured or injured blood vessels in the affected areas.
• Decrease or prevent inflammation. Mesenchymal stem cells ensure that as the affected areas heal, white blood cells such as macrophages are attached to the wound site; the macrophages then release cytokines that cause the anti-inflammatory response. Substantially, many stem cells use oxygen to produce adenosine triphosphate; though this process, their response to inflammatory stimuli is enhanced hence they can reduce inflammation due to sports injuries.
• Slow down tissue degeneration. Upon the administration of the mesenchymal stem cells into affected areas, they lead to the release of cytokines which turn into new cells hence prevent the degeneration of muscle tissues. This helps in the repair of injured tendons and ligaments; an effective way of managing sports injuries.

There are multiple different ways stem cells can be administered and they depend on the specific case. The medical procedure is either done through:

• Direct surgical application: The physician applies stem cells directly to the torn tendon, ligament or the bone to be repaired.
• Stem cell bearing sutures: The clinician stitches together a torn muscle, ligament or tendon using a thread-like material coated with stem cells. The suture material then dissolves and becomes absorbed in the body with time.
• Injection: The stem cells are directly injected into the affected areas

Benefits of Stem Cell Therapy for Sports Injuries

1. Faster Healing and recovery since the mesenchymal stem cells are obtained from the human tissue (not plant or animal-based source that’s of questionable compatibility) hence they easily integrate and become new tissues on the injured areas.
2. Reduced inflammation. Painful inflammations are every sportsperson’s fears. Mesenchymal stem cells have oxidative properties that help alleviate inflammation.
3. Regeneration of new tissues. The immune privilege of stem cells enables them to easily transform into new tissues that repair the affected areas.

Research-Backed Process

The induction of mesenchymal stem cells to differentiate into forming cells in vitro before transplanting is one possible approach that will largely help in avoiding ectopic bone and tumour formation while promoting tendon repair according to Willey Online Library.  In a study detailed in Sage Journals, stem cell therapy patients younger than the age of 45 and those with single or smaller lesions showed a better outcome after being administered with the stem cells. Notably, the MRI scans done on the patients showed good stability of the stem cell administered and a complete filling of the defect in 80% of the 25 studied patients. The biopsied tissues also had hyaline-like cartilage as revealed during the histological analysis; however, there were no adverse side effects or postoperative complications. Conclusively, according to Sage Journals, the treatment of large chondral defects using mesenchymal stem cells is an effective procedure and can be routinely performed in clinical care. The procedure can also be achieved within a 1 single step of surgery, avoiding prior surgical procedures to harvest cartilage and the cultivation of subsequent chondrocytes.

Why We are Here

StemFinity Cord is going over and above and restoring the hope of play among sportspersons. For those who have let go and out of what you love and cherish in your life, we are helping you establish a more stable life that will help you to enjoy the game once again. With qualified specialists, we offer our athletes the very best of a minimally invasive therapy that assures a quicker return to play. Our procedures are backed by research, studies and trials which have helped us establish a reputation among our clients; reaching out to us is one very best step you can make to help you get your muscles pushing again.