Knee pain, whether from a recent injury or a chronic condition, can cause major disruption to quality of life. Since treatment options can also be disruptive, risky, and often temporary, many individuals continue living with discomfort and reduced mobility. Regenerative therapy for knee pain is an alternative treatment for qualified patients that can heal damaged tissue and drastically reduce pain.

Understanding Knee Pain: Causes, Symptoms, and Risk Factors

Chronic knee pain can be caused by a variety of injuries or conditions. As a heavily used joint, knees are susceptible to multiple causes of pain at the same time. Because the treatment options are specific to each condition or injury, it is always necessary to identify the source of the problem using advanced imaging like an MRI or CT Scan. 

Based on imaging results, your healthcare provider will find that your knee pain is caused by one or more of the following:

• Osteoarthritis - the cartilage, or layer of tissue between the bones, has worn down over time. Without this tissue at full strength to act as a cushion between the tibia and femur, the bones receive more impact from daily activities. This causes pain, inflammation, swelling, and stiffness.
• Meniscus tears - the meniscus is a layer of cartilage that supports the knee joint. It acts as a shock absorber and stabilizer so that the knee can function during normal activities. A meniscus tear can be partial or complete, and pieces of this cartilage can protrude or break off and float into other spaces around the joint, causing pain and reduced function.
• Ligament (ACL/MCL/LCL/PCL) injuries and tendonitis - Ligaments connect bones to bones while tendons connect the muscles to bones. Both ligaments and tendons can be torn partially or completely, which can cause pain and reduced mobility.

Any knee injury or condition is likely to cause pain, swelling, stiffness, limping, and reduced functionality. The severity of the damage usually determines the level of pain or immobility. Symptoms can come on gradually, worsening over time for issues like osteoarthritis or even a minor tear. Unfortunately, these are the symptoms far too many people ignore until the pain is severe, when treatment may have prevented the condition from advancing. A sudden injury to the meniscus, patellar tendon, ACL, LCL, PCL, or MCL may come with sharp pain and even a popping sound. These tears can be immediately debilitating, especially if there is a complete tear.

While it is possible for experienced health professionals to make an educated guess at what the primary issue is, it takes an MRI or CT Scan to tell the complete story. Since many injuries co-occur with a degenerative condition, a full diagnosis is necessary.

Traditional Knee Pain Treatments and Their Limitations

Pain medication is typically the first method of treatment for knee pain. Many people who experience chronic pain avoid getting a full diagnosis, so they use over-the-counter pain relievers to reduce inflammation. While temporary relief allows someone to go about their day, it does not work to heal the source of the problem. It may even lead to continued degeneration since the absence of pain makes it easier to function like normal even though the knee’s structure is not fully intact.

When individuals seek medical care for knee pain, their doctor may prescribe corticosteroid or hyaluronic acid injections. These two types of injections provide temporary relief but no healing mechanism. In fact, corticosteroids will usually cause more long-term damage by eroding the existing tissue, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. Corticosteroids reduce pain because they eat away at the inflammation within tissues or joints causing underlying pain. Due to its ability to diminish inflammation, long term use of corticosteroids also can damage healthy tissue, which is why there comes a point when the injections are more harmful than helpful. Hyaluronic acid is a gel-like substance that offers shock absorption properties for the damaged tissue. These injections are intended for pain management but do not generate any healing in the knee.

Knee surgery is the most intensive treatment option for injuries and degenerative conditions. Arthroscopy is a less invasive style of surgery that can be used to repair minor tears and clean out protruding or floating cartilage. When arthroscopy is not possible, patients are offered a full knee replacement surgery. Surgery may be the only option, especially in the case of a fully torn meniscus, tendon, or ligament. When alternative treatments are possible, patients need to consider the timeline for rehab and recovery as well as the risks for infection and post-surgical complications. 

What is Regenerative Therapy for Knee Pain?

Regenerative medicine is an alternative to pain medication, corticosteroid and hyaluronic acid injections, and even surgery in many cases. Regenerative therapy is a minimally invasive procedure that sends the patient’s very own stem cells to the site of the damaged tissue so that they can begin the healing process. Regenerative medicine is intended to provide long-lasting relief because it promotes genuine, natural tissue repair. 

Everyone has stem cells, which are versatile cells that can be used however the body needs them. Stem cells turn into any type of cell, meaning they can multiply as the cells that build new cartilage, tendon, and ligament tissue. Although these cells diminish in volume and potency with age, it is possible to harvest, concentrate, and inject them straight to where they need to get to work. Regenerative therapy is the practice of harvesting and injecting a patient’s own healing properties for the purpose of repairing and healing tissue. 

Regenerative therapy is a treatment for the following knee conditions:

• Osteoarthritis - stem cells injected into the joint can absorb into the cartilage and help to rebuild this essential tissue for knee function.
• Partial tears of the meniscus, patellar tendon, ACL, LCL, PCL, and MCL - stem cells can get to work reconnecting the connective tissues in full. 

Unfortunately, regenerative therapy is not indicated for a complete tear. The stem cells need to recognize the existing connection in order to replicate the functional cells in the injured area. For a full tear, surgery may be the best option. 

When regenerative therapy is an indicated treatment for a knee condition like osteoarthritis, cartilage damage, partial ligament, tendon, and meniscus tear, patients can expect a treatment that:

• Is minimally invasive
• Begins working to reduce pain and inflammation pretty quickly 
• Heals gently and progressively over time
• Preserves the body’s natural joints 
• Eliminates surgical downtime, post-op complications, and painful rehab

For many patients, the benefits of regenerative therapy make it the preferred option to surgery and temporary treatment for knee recovery. The long-term results from treatment typically show reduced pain and discomfort, effective tissue regeneration, and restoration to a full range of motion and activity.

What to Expect with Regenerative Knee Treatment

Patients in the Philadelphia and surrounding region who are seeking non-surgical options for knee pain may be candidates for regenerative therapy. At Stem Cells Philadelphia, our regenerative medicine providers are dedicated to a superior standard of care using state of the art technology and equipment.

Located in Villanova, we serve patients with knee pain throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and New York. Individuals who have chronic knee pain, a recent injury, or who are beginning to notice pain and stiffness with regular activity should reach out to our Patient Advocate, Jerry Penders, for an initial screening.

What patients can expect from Stem Cells Philadelphia is focused attention and informative conversations with every interaction. Jerry speaks with every new patient to begin our screening process. During this phase, Jerry will talk with the patient about their specific pain and circumstances, obtain their MRI or CT Scan records, and discuss their candidacy for treatment. If we do not believe that regenerative therapy is indicated for an individual’s condition, we will not move forward. Operating at the highest level of medical ethics, our doctors always put the best interests of the patient first.

If regenerative therapy is an indicated treatment for the patient’s osteoarthritis or partial tear, the next step is to schedule an initial consultation with our providers, Dr. Michael Schina and Dr. Jarrad Teller. They meet directly with each patient to discuss their condition or injury and provide informed consent about the available procedures and timeline for recovery.

Should the patient move forward with regenerative therapy for knee pain, our office will assist with scheduling and overnight accommodations if travel to our office is necessary. Good to moderate candidates typically only need one procedure to achieve long-term improvement. Severe or end stage conditions may warrant more frequent treatment because of the condition’s advanced state. Our friendly staff works to ensure patient comfort throughout the treatment time, which involves injections in the knee area of the patient’s leg.

Following treatment, we advise patients to take it easy for a few days, avoiding strenuous activity or exercise. In general, patients experience little discomfort other than mild to moderate bruising or swelling at the injection site. Initial regeneration begins to reduce inflammation, resulting in many patients noticing less pain and stiffness within just a few weeks. 

As the stem cells get to work regenerating tissue, the body begins to experience a cascading effect of healing. Over a period of 6 to 12 months, the tissues can be repaired and rebuilt. After about 9 to 12 months, the healing process completes itself, and the regenerative therapy is considered to be finished.

Is Regenerative Knee Therapy Effective?

When the knee’s condition is compatible with regenerative medicine, the therapy is typically highly effective. The main indicator of whether or not a patient will experience complete joint restoration is usually the severity of their condition prior to treatment. The more damage they have to the tissue surrounding the joint, the more work the stem cells have to do. For this reason, full restoration may not be possible for every patient. Additionally, individuals may experience new injuries or wear and tear on the cartilage that cannot be prevented by regenerative medicine. It may, however, be treatable with subsequent regenerative therapy.

Every individual is unique and should meet with a qualified provider who specializes in regenerative medicine. At Stem Cells Philadelphia, our doctors are passionate about helping individuals restore their health using research-backed treatments in our comfortable Villanova medical office.

If you would like to explore options for healing your knee pain that do not involve surgery or temporary methods, contact our Patient Advocate, Jerry Penders, to get started. We look forward to learning more about your specific needs and determining which of our treatment options may be a good fit to promote your body’s natural healing processes.