Shoulder injuries can reduce shoulder function and ultimately affect an individual's livelihood by reducing movement and strength in the shoulder. Physical therapy is a common treatment for shoulder injuries, especially in the field of sports medicine.
Traditional therapy for shoulder pain, shoulder arthritis, and other common shoulder injuries are time-consuming and uncomfortable, even if it helps.
However, the body's natural ability to accelerate healing can be further harnessed and enhanced through regenerative medicine. In this case, we're talking about stem cell therapy for shoulder issues and pain.
Compared to surgical repair, stem cell therapy for shoulder problems is non-invasive; it simply amplifies the natural healing process that the human body has by injecting patients with stem cells.
Many orthopedic conditions and degenerative conditions can benefit from stem cell therapy. Some of the most common medical conditions causing shoulder joint problems that can be treated with stem cells include:
Joint pain resulting from acute orthopedic injuries (joint injury, muscle injury) can also be addressed with stem cell treatment and exosome therapy. Pain relief and healing after injury is often very effective with stem cell treatment. The effect is long lasting, especially if combined with supportive treatments.
Stem cells are often considered by regenerative medicine teams as effective alternative to pharmaceutical prescriptions, cortisone injections, regenerative therapies (prolotherapy, platelet-rich plasma), and as a viable alternative to surgery (alternative to shoulder surgery, alternative to shoulder replacement surgery).
Ideal candidates for stem cell therapy are patients with good immune function, robust regenerative capacity (good vitality), that have tried other means of resolving the chronic pain, are looking for relief from shoulder pain that is more non-invasive. In some cases, stem cell therapy can serve as an alternative to surgery (alternative to shoulder replacement, joint replacement surgery), or at the very least serve as supportive treatment pre- and post- orthopedic surgery.
There are many types of stem cells being used in orthopedic medicine world-wide, mostly adult stem cells (mesenchymal stem cells, adipose-derived stem cells, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, BM-derived stem cells and other autologous stem cell types). Some international clinics use fetal stem cells, often confusing the semantics as fetal-derived embryonic stem cell-like cells. All these cells have undergone differentiation and are therefore considered tissue specific biologic treatment.
At Stemaid, we use true pluripotent stem cells, embryonic stem cells. These stem cells are able to signal repair in all 220+ tissue types of the body, including joint soft tissue (tendons, ligaments, muscle), articular cartilage and fibrocartilage. Given the comprehensive nature of their signaling, pluripotent stem cells are considered whole body effective therapy, reaching all tissues.
The environment of rotator cuff and the shoulder joint overall is supported by the release of pluripotent stem cell exosomes. These contain strong paracrine effectors with wide combination of growth factors full of angiogenic potential, neurogenic potential, soft tissue repair potential, myogenic potential, immunoregulating, anti-fibrotic, DNA reparative. They are also full of expression of collagen types of transcription factors, rendering the joint supple once again, improving range of motion over time.
Application of stem cells are done in daily pulsing doses at Stemaid. The best effect is seen not from a single stem cell injection. Scientific evidence and clinical studies suggest that it's the pulsing repeating doses of pluripotent transcription factors (Yamanaka factors, NANOG) that are the key factor in long lasting regenerative and reprogramming effect of pluripotent stem cells. See our discussion of numerous studies on reprogramming induced rejuvenation here.
The treatment plan for shoulder injury varies patient to patient. All Stemaid programs include daily intravenous stem cell injections and weekly local Plurisomes injections. The healing combination and pulsing application of pluripotency based regenerative treatments (repeated combination of stem cells and exosomes) is the key factor for immediate and long lasting results.
Recovery from surgery can be long. Stem cell therapy has a significantly shorter recovery time than surgical treatments, depending on stage of soft tissue injury, cartilage damage (cartilage loss) and overall joint condition and joint disease.
As a medical procedure, stem cell therapy is biocompatible and gentle on the body. Normal activity (physical activity, daily activities) can usually be resumed within 1-2 days post stem cell procedure.
1. Stem cell therapy in the management of shoulder rotator cuff disorders - PubMed
2. Stem cell therapy in the management of shoulder rotator cuff disorders
3. Transient non-integrative expression of nuclear reprogramming factors promotes multifaceted amelioration of aging in human cells
4. In vivo partial reprogramming alters age-associated molecular changes during physiological aging in mice - Nature Aging