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Stem Cells
I am a 68 year old male, have lived over 15 years with back pain, have had 15 back surgeries, am fused L3-S1, had countless injections, tried acupuncture, etc. and have both a pain pump and spinal cord stimulator implanted in me. I now have SI joint pain from degeneration and severe stenosis at L2/3 and associated facet joint arthritis. I am told I need fusion to fix L2/3, and probably SI fusion as well, but have osteoporosis and have been on Tymlos for six months now. I am not in enough pain, yet, to go thru lumbar fusion again. Has anyone tried going out of the country for stem cell treatment. Other countries can do with stem cells what cant be done here due to FDA regulations.
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Great topic . Thanks. I have wondered about this too considering that the restrictions in the u.s. seem to negatively impact results of treatment.
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1 ReactionCheck Mayo Clinic’s website to see if there’s any experimentation going on with that sort of thing and if they’re seeking research subjects.
@kudzu
https://stemshealthregenerativemedicine.com/blog/us-vs-overseas-stem-cell-treatments/
This may be useful in understanding the differences between the u.s. and other countries.
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1 Reaction@gravity3
Thanks for the information.
I was aware that there are more restrictions on stem cell treatment in the US, but hoping that research/experimentation would have more leeway. Perhaps not.
It's ridiculously expensive and won't be covered by any insurance company, and there are no guarantees that it'll help even a little let alone "cure" anybody. If you can afford it I still think it'd be a waste of time and money.
@mrmacabre I agree that it is expensive depending on where you go and there are no guaranties. However, there are no guaranties with anything, injections, acupuncture, ablation, surgery, etc. I had some relief briefly with placental tissue matrix injections, which is similar to stem cells, here in the US, and they have better products outside the US. To me, it is worth investigating given the amount of pain I live in.
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1 Reaction@jcoleary 1My mother in law had suffered her whole life with MS and as she aged it became unbearable.We organized a excursion to California and than bussed to Mexico for stem cell treatment to see if it would help.Unforntunatly it did not take for her but it may work for someone else.Exspensive yes,is it worth it? Depends on if you want to game on your pain level