Healing Degenerative Arthritis with Stem Cell Therapy at Arizona Pain Centers

29 Mar Healing Degenerative Arthritis with Stem Cell Therapy at Arizona Pain Centers

No one can deny the pain of arthritic conditions. It’s also a worrying time as there is a great deal of stress involved before and after diagnosis. This is because we see the worst-case scenario when it comes to bone and joint health and the potential for mobility to be greatly restricted. There is also the potential for the pain to be chronic. It may start off with one or two joints but can gradually increase until daily life is affected. This is why it’s important to seek medical treatment for degenerative arthritis at Arizona Pain Centers where stem cell therapy could change your life.

But first, let’s look at degenerative arthritis and what it is. This is a term synonymous with osteoarthritis, often known as the ‘wear and tear arthritis’ that typically seems to impact people as they grow older. It damages the tissues and cartilage of joints and in the US alone, will affect over 27 million people. This is a serious and life-changing disease and many people experience it by the time they are 80 but, many will have degenerative arthritis long before then.

There will often be great joint tenderness and swelling and a predisposition to stiffness. Cartilage protects the bones from damage, but degenerative arthritis attacks the cartilage and therefore, a bone may even become exposed and damaged as a result. This leads to painful joints.

Causes:

Although degenerative arthritis is always considered the wear and tear disease, there are other considerations including:

• Genetic traits – inherited traits could affect cartilage or even how the bones fit together
• Being overweight – no doubt that this adds extra strain to the weight-bearing joints. Excess fat tissues produce chemicals (cytokines) and this can damage the joints.
• Repetitive movements – this can lead to cartilage breakdown speeding up or an imbalance or weakness in the supportive muscles.

Symptoms:

• Are your joints more painful in the morning or, does pain increase where there have been periods of inactivity?
• Did the pain start in one or two joints first?
• Have you found that the weight-bearing joints are primarily affected?
• Have you noticed symptoms in your back, neck, fingers, and toes?
• Have you noticed a loss of mobility?

Treatment

There is much that can be done in respect of pain management for this type of arthritis. Your doctors will look at pain management but, are likely to recommend a series of physical therapy sessions. Stem cell therapy is offering renewed hope for many people with degenerative arthritic conditions because the stem cells – typically taken from the person’s own body, will often provide much healing to damaged joints. They work with the body and not against it.

In addition, joint injections can help manage the pain aspects of arthritis. As pain can be highly debilitating and with mobility affected and rising stress and frustration as a result, it makes sense to manage pain as effectively as is possible. In addition to stem cell therapy, platelet-rich plasma therapy, corticosteroid injections or hyaluronic acid injections may be suggested. Ultimately, you need to consider all suggestions and think about which treatments will enable you to live your life to the full and enable you to have freedom of movement. Whatever you decide, you will have all the information you need at Arizona Pain Centers.