This Innovative Treatment Is a Game Changer for Sports and Orthopedic Injuries How stem cells promote healing, alleviate pain, regenerate damaged tissues and improve performance.
By Eric Stoffers Edited by Amanda Breen
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Whether professional athlete or "weekend warrior," you know your active lifestyle can quickly grind to a halt with just one injury. In some cases, an old injury can even cause nagging pain for the rest of your life because while you think you've "recovered," that injury never seems to quite completely heal.
Sure, some say "no pain, no gain." But more athletes today suffer a lot less pain and continue to train thanks to new advances in stem-cell therapy that can help speed recovery from injuries and surgeries, promote healing and regenerate new tissue, and alleviate chronic pain.
While some physicians suggest surgery as a treatment option, recovery can take weeks or months. Medication may be another choice, yet can cause serious side effects or may not offer any relief.
But stem-cell therapy is a simple non-invasive treatment with no side effects. Well, perhaps I should say no "unwelcome" side effects. That's because in addition to healing, patients report more energy, vitality, performance and healthier skin, regardless of the injury treated. If you consider those side effects, I stand corrected, but I'd certainly welcome health effects like these!
You see, in addition to promoting healing of recent and old injuries, stem-cell treatment is based on the body's own natural repair processes that heals bones, ligaments and muscles, as well as reduces inflammation throughout the body.
Related: This Is How Stem-Cell Therapy Treats Serious Brain Injuries
Advanced stem-cell therapies can help treat and heal a variety of issues:
- Ligament and tendon tears (ACL, MCL, rotator cuff, labrum).
- Shoulder and elbow pain.
- Ankle, knee and hip pain.
- Lower back pain.
- Herniated and bulging discs.
- Neck pain and disorders.
- Arthritis and tendonitis.
- Chronic pain.
- Injuries to soft tissue.
How stem cells work: healing old and new injuries
Stem cells are the body's own natural resource for creating new cells to replace older, damaged and diseased cells, and are produced in our bone marrow.
Unfortunately, the number of new stem cells our bodies produce declines as we age. Stem-cell therapy gives the body a fresh supply of new healthy stem cells to speed up this natural repair and healing process. By creating an optimal environment for the body to heal itself, stem cells help stimulate healing, reduce inflammation and regenerate damaged tissues.
This certainly enhances healing when you've recently suffered an injury, but it also promotes healing for older injuries — even from many years ago — that may have not completely healed, so they still cause pain.
Which stem cells are most effective and result in the best patient outcomes?
The three most important factors that contribute to the effectiveness of stem-cell therapy are potency, purity and quantity of the cells — and how they are harvested and cultured.
Not all stem cells are alike. There are many different types of stem cells. Some are adult stem cells that are harvested from adipose (fatty) tissue or from bone marrow. Unfortunately, adult stem cells are older cells, so they are often not as potent. Other younger stem cells are embryonic, but ethical concerns ban their use in many locations.
One type of stem cell, however, offers high potency and is ethically sourced. These are mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that come from a substance called Wharton's Jelly in umbilical cords. Research shows that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from umbilical cords are more effective and have more healing potential than cells from adipose tissue (fatty tissue) or bone marrow. Treatment is further enhanced by a proprietary process BioXcellerator has developed to identify the most effective cells with the best potential to stimulate healing and to reproduce them in high enough quantities for effective treatment.
First, we take these MSCs and screen them for specific markers that indicate the cells with the best potential to reduce inflammation, promote healing and regenerate tissues. Then only these cells that meet our strict criteria are cultured and reproduced into millions of Golden Cells we use in our treatments.
Related: High-Potency 'Golden Cells' Offer Hope to Those With Severe Brain Injuries
Results: less pain, more energy and vitality
The reason why so many well-known athletes have turned to stem-cell therapy is because word is spreading on its effectiveness. Even just a few years ago, many athletes faced retirement at much younger ages. But today many pros are extending their careers by many years. And even after retirement, many athletes — especially those in high-impact sports — once coped with significant pain from old injuries.
That's certainly not the case for many athletes today. UFC champion Chuck Liddell and WWE champion Bobby Lashley are among those who have seen life-changing results from these treatments.
More athletes than ever now not only enjoy longer careers and more success, but they also no longer suffer pain from older injuries. And it's not just professionals who benefit. Anyone who leads an active life can now enjoy more vitality and increased performance thanks to stem-cell therapy.
Related: The Future of Health: Why Age 100 Will Soon Become 'the New 60'
