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Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritic Knees

Posted by tropicallady1276 @tropicallady1276, May 10, 2017

I am a 77 year old woman with arthritic knees where it's difficult for me to walk and I'm trying to avoid knee replacement. I have done the Synvisc injections and physical therapy-- to no avail. Is there anyone here who has had stem cell therapy for arthritic knees and I would like to know your outcome. I know there are two, one where bone marrow is removed and the other where they take fat from the abdomen and regenerate and inject into the knees. I would like to know the cost and how long the procedure takes and any other information which would be helpful to me. I live in North Jersey and am currently looking for clinics in my area who perform this procedure. I appreciate your help.

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win sturgeon | @cobweb | Apr 21 8:27am
In reply to @barbcinque321 "Im sorry Im a little dense. The stem cells were successful? And the replacement did not..." + (show)
@barbcinque321

Im sorry Im a little dense. The stem cells were successful? And the replacement did not work? Is this correct? Im in need of stem cells for my thumb arthritis. I am a classical guitarist and Im terrified of surgery. I would love to be clear on your experience.

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I would recommend PRP as i had that after stem cells. I felt that worked the best. I am doing it again in May. I do it every year.

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Bluegrass Gal | @cindychesler | Apr 22 6:01am

I had stem cell therapy on my knee in 2016 (I think) and the cost was $5000. It is the best investment I’ve ever made. The procedure was done at Mayo in Jacksonville and the recovery was brief and easy and I am able to do so many things again.

Last year I had a combination of stem cell and PRP done on my feet and did not have near as good of an experience. I can’t tell you why either.

Good luck, chronic pain is awful.

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1 reply
mabfp3 | @mabfp3 | Apr 22 5:13pm
In reply to @winning "The day I had my stem cell procedure done, I notice two others who followed me..." + (show)
@winning

The day I had my stem cell procedure done, I notice two others who followed me and they were younger males. The drilling in the hip for the stem cells had very little pain. Blood was taken from both arms, it was mixed with the cells, three hours later the cells and blood was injected in the knee. I needed a cane to go home. The next day I had one more injection. Four weeks of relaxing, reading, tv etc and I was good to go. My knee was bone on bone. I was fitted with a neat knee brace and I do wear it when I golf, bike and garden. Not sure if I need to but it's my crutch. Having had a terrible time with total knee replacement I just use it for peace of mind. I have been told by the doctor if I feel I need a booster shot that can be done.
There are a lot of doubters out there but I ignore them. Downside is no insurance coverage. I suspect it will happen some day when you consider the cost of a total knee replacement, three days in a hospital and many trips for p/t. It was a bad time for me and my frustration was I went into the surgery in good shape. I had worked out for a year to have good strength etc. did not work out for me. I do have friends that it worked for them. If you have the finances then you must weigh your options.

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Thank you for such valuable information! I had a TKR and it was terrible!!! This was three years ago and my knee is still painful, off and on. My other knee now needs it but I cannot put myself through that torture again! Keep going for cortisone shots every three months and now taking Tumerin, which seems to have helped. I would be very interested in stem cells for both knees and for my back!

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2 replies
win sturgeon | @cobweb | Apr 24 7:03am
In reply to @mabfp3 "Thank you for such valuable information! I had a TKR and it was terrible!!! This was..." + (show)
@mabfp3

Thank you for such valuable information! I had a TKR and it was terrible!!! This was three years ago and my knee is still painful, off and on. My other knee now needs it but I cannot put myself through that torture again! Keep going for cortisone shots every three months and now taking Tumerin, which seems to have helped. I would be very interested in stem cells for both knees and for my back!

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i had the PRP for my back and found it to work very well. Plus i did both for the knee. I am going in again in May for PRP. Take your cane. Hard to walk out after the injection.

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heyjoe415 | @heyjoe415 | Apr 24 4:01pm
In reply to @mabfp3 "Thank you for such valuable information! I had a TKR and it was terrible!!! This was..." + (show)
@mabfp3

Thank you for such valuable information! I had a TKR and it was terrible!!! This was three years ago and my knee is still painful, off and on. My other knee now needs it but I cannot put myself through that torture again! Keep going for cortisone shots every three months and now taking Tumerin, which seems to have helped. I would be very interested in stem cells for both knees and for my back!

Jump to this post

mab - what went wrong with your TKR? I had both of mine done in 2022 and my knees are absolutely great. I attend spin class 5 times a week and the recovery took time and hard work, but it was worth it. I'm not trying to kid anyone - TKR is a traumatic procedure and recovery takes a lot of time and personal effort.

If the bad result was the fault of the surgeon or hospital It may be time to find another place. All the best.

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1 reply
heyjoe415 | @heyjoe415 | Apr 24 4:04pm
In reply to @cindychesler "I had stem cell therapy on my knee in 2016 (I think) and the cost was..." + (show)
@cindychesler

I had stem cell therapy on my knee in 2016 (I think) and the cost was $5000. It is the best investment I’ve ever made. The procedure was done at Mayo in Jacksonville and the recovery was brief and easy and I am able to do so many things again.

Last year I had a combination of stem cell and PRP done on my feet and did not have near as good of an experience. I can’t tell you why either.

Good luck, chronic pain is awful.

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I've had both knees replaced. I just don't know enough about stem cell therapy or PRP. Then again, my problem was osteoarthritis, and the only way to fix that was TKR.

As for your foot, please remember that the knee is a relatively simple joint, with relatively few tendons and ligaments, bones and muscle. The foot and ankle, on the other hand, are incredibly complex structures with a lot of bones and a lot of connecting tissue. That's why ankle replacements are rare.

Anyway that may be the reason you had a less than satisfactory result with your feet. I hope your knee is still doing well!

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mabfp3 | @mabfp3 | Apr 24 4:23pm
In reply to @heyjoe415 "mab - what went wrong with your TKR? I had both of mine done in 2022..." + (show)
@heyjoe415

mab - what went wrong with your TKR? I had both of mine done in 2022 and my knees are absolutely great. I attend spin class 5 times a week and the recovery took time and hard work, but it was worth it. I'm not trying to kid anyone - TKR is a traumatic procedure and recovery takes a lot of time and personal effort.

If the bad result was the fault of the surgeon or hospital It may be time to find another place. All the best.

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Hi Joe, I had a top Boston surgeon who I continue to see for my left knee for cortisone shots. The problem that I had was that I was allergic to each pain killer that he prescribed. After having reactions from four of those prescriptions, I was advised to just take Tylenol Extra Strength, which did nothing for my pain. I fell way behind in PT because I could not do a lot of the exercises. So……it took me a long time to recover from that surgery. I was in good shape going into the surgery because I had been exercising ahead of the surgery. It still is painful today…..more in an arthritic way. I asked my surgeon if arthritis can develop around the knee replacement and he said that he has heard of that. I think that is going on with me. I will continue to exercise, along with getting a cortisone shot every 3-4 months in my left knee. I have seen your posts on here, helping people out with terrific advice! I am very happy for you that you had such success with both knees!

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1 reply
heyjoe415 | @heyjoe415 | Apr 25 8:56am
In reply to @mabfp3 "Hi Joe, I had a top Boston surgeon who I continue to see for my left..." + (show)
@mabfp3

Hi Joe, I had a top Boston surgeon who I continue to see for my left knee for cortisone shots. The problem that I had was that I was allergic to each pain killer that he prescribed. After having reactions from four of those prescriptions, I was advised to just take Tylenol Extra Strength, which did nothing for my pain. I fell way behind in PT because I could not do a lot of the exercises. So……it took me a long time to recover from that surgery. I was in good shape going into the surgery because I had been exercising ahead of the surgery. It still is painful today…..more in an arthritic way. I asked my surgeon if arthritis can develop around the knee replacement and he said that he has heard of that. I think that is going on with me. I will continue to exercise, along with getting a cortisone shot every 3-4 months in my left knee. I have seen your posts on here, helping people out with terrific advice! I am very happy for you that you had such success with both knees!

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Thanks mab and sorry for what happened to you. Yeah if you can't really manage the pain post-op, the rehab exercises would be so difficult.

I don't think you've developed more arthritis. My guess is that it's scar tissue from not being able to properly do the rehab exercises.

FWIW, there is a non-narcotic painkiller called Toradol. Problem is that it can only be used for six days max. You might ask your Dr about that. I hope you find an answer.

All the best. Joe

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