Stem cell therapy · Before you book
Stem Cell Therapy: Honest Answers Before You Book.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably weighing it up. Maybe a surgeon has mentioned a replacement. Maybe you’ve been living with a joint that won’t settle, and you’re tired of giving up the things you love.
We don’t perform stem cell injections. We work with clients after their injection, wherever they had it done. That gives us a clear view of what separates the people who get a great result from the people who don’t.
Ron was headed for a double knee replacement. Two years later he played 18 holes three days running.
The basics
What Is Stem Cell Therapy?
Stem cell therapy, in the orthopedic sense, is an injection of cells into a joint or injured tissue to support the body’s own repair. The cells usually come from your own bone marrow or fat, and some clinics use donor-derived products. Techniques, cell sources and doses vary a lot from clinic to clinic.
What doesn’t vary is this. The injection is the start of the process, not the end of it. What you do with the joint over the next six months shapes what that repair becomes.
Honest answers
Is Stem Cell Therapy Painful?
The injection day depends on the clinic and on where the cells come from. Ask what they use to keep you comfortable, both at the joint and at the harvest site if they’re using your own bone marrow or fat.
Afterwards, soreness and stiffness for the first several days are common. Knees in particular can feel worse before they feel better. That’s why the first two weeks of any good plan are about protecting the site, not testing it. Why knee stem cell therapy can be painful.
What Are The Side Effects Of Stem Cell Therapy In The Knee?
The ones clients mention most are short-term: soreness, swelling and stiffness at the injection site, and soreness where the cells were collected. These usually settle over days.
Less common risks, like infection, exist with any injection. Your injecting doctor is the right person to walk you through them for your procedure. If pain keeps climbing, or you get swelling, heat or fever, call them.
The side effect nobody warns you about is the setback you cause yourself: resting too long, or doing too much at week three. That one is avoidable.
Recovering from a knee injection? See the week-by-week knee recovery plan.
Stem Cell Therapy vs. Surgery
It isn’t always an either/or. Some people use injections to delay or avoid surgery, and some aren’t candidates at all. That’s a conversation for your surgeon and your injecting doctor.
What we can speak to is recovery. Ron was headed for a double knee replacement and chose injections instead. In his words: “I found out the recovery time is about the same, but it was a lot less discomfort, and I didn’t have to take the pain meds.” Two years later, he played 18 holes three days in a row.
Either way, plan on about six months of structured rehab. See the week-by-week recovery timeline.
Before you book
Seven Questions To Ask Any Clinic Before You Book
You’ll probably spend months researching this. Here are the questions that tell you the most, in the order we’d ask them.
Where do the cells come from?
Your own bone marrow, your own fat, or a donor product? Why that source for your joint?
Am I a good candidate, and who isn’t?
A good clinic turns people away. Ask who they say no to.
What imaging do you need first?
Your decision should be based on what’s actually going on in the joint.
What does the injection day involve?
Ask about comfort, the harvest site and how long you’ll be there.
What happens in the six months after?
If the answer is “rest for a couple of weeks, then ease back in”, you’ll need a plan from somewhere else.
Who do I call if something feels wrong?
You want a name and a number, not a general inbox.
What’s included in the price, and what isn’t?
Follow-up visits, imaging, a second round, rehab.
Whichever clinic you choose, go in with a plan for what comes after.
The part nobody sells you
Clinics Are Good At The Injection. Very Few Give You A Plan For After.
So people rest too long, or go back to the gym at week three, and wonder why the result didn’t match what they paid for.
Sue learned this the hard way. On her first round she had no plan, did too much too soon, and saw little change. On her second round she followed a plan, and two and a half months in she walked up the stairs at work without pain.
“I actually did not utilize any kind of stem cell physical therapy experts after my first injections, and I didn’t have a whole lot of results… In hindsight, I did way too much way too soon.”
Sue, 59Knees · virtual, from Minnesota · second round of injectionsSee how stem cell physical therapy works.
Still deciding? Start here
Two Free Ways To Get Answers Before You Book
Read up, or ask people who have already been through it.
The First 12 Weeks After Your Stem Cell Injections
Fifteen pages about what to do from the day of the injection onward, including the clearance page clients print and stick on the fridge. Read it before you book, so you know what you’re signing up for.
Emailed to youGet the free report →Free communityAsk people who’ve been through it
Ask questions, and hear from people who’ve already had their injections and done the recovery.
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Questions
Stem Cell Therapy Questions
Does stem cell therapy work?
Results vary from person to person. What we see in our clients is that the recovery plan after the injection makes a big difference to the result.
How long does stem cell therapy take to recover from?
Plan on about six months of structured rehab, across six phases.
Can stem cell therapy help me avoid knee surgery?
For some people it’s an option to discuss with their surgeon and injecting doctor. It depends on the joint and what’s going on in it.
Do you perform stem cell injections?
No. We handle everything that happens after the injection, wherever you had it done.
Can I work with you if my injection is done in another country?
Yes. Clients come to us from clinics all over the world, and most use our virtual program.
Before you book
Go In With A Plan For What Comes After.
Get the free report, or join the community and ask your questions. When your injection is booked, we’ll be here.
Stem Cell Recovery Experts is a service of Sports Performance Physical Therapy, 861 Harold Place Unit 307, Chula Vista, CA 91914 · (619) 397-1391. We do not perform stem cell or orthobiologic injections. We provide physical therapy and regenerative therapy services for recovery after those procedures. Content on this site is general education and does not create a doctor–patient relationship. Not appropriate for every patient; individual results vary.