subject: Ravaged Knees Rejuvenating [print this page] Knees do not like surprisesKnees do not like surprises. Whether this surprise comes in the form of a ski-ridden tumble on a snow-laden mountain or in the form of a three-hundred pound linebacker named Lawrence, the knee joint becomes quite susceptible to injury with certain movements""twisting while bending, sudden stops, jerks, pivots, vicious horizontal blows""enough Lawrence, go get some Gatorade.
As the largest and most sophisticated joint in the body, the knee joint is an intricately woven complex of ligament, muscle, tendon, cartilage, and bone. Ligaments, such as the infamous ACL or nearby MCL, act as harnesses, chinstraps for the knee, securing a triad of bones""the femur, the patella, and the tibia""providing stability and ensuring the joint is capable of absorbing the weight and force demanded of an active knee. Despite the strength and flexibility inherent in such a display, for better or worse, surprises are a part of life.
Ask former Pat's quarterback Tom Brady; nearly anybody who's ever torn their ACL can recall that exact moment when they felt it pop. Without surgical attention, inflammation in the joint breaks down the neighboring tissues, essentially turning the ruptured ligament to mush. Repairing a severed ligament has been compared by one surgeon to sewing two hairbrushes together. Thus, due to the difficulty of the procedure, a torn ACL is generally replaced completely with a graft taken from a tendon.
And while tearing one of the four major ligaments of the knee is the quickest way to induce a lot of pain into your world, it is neither the only method, nor is it the most common of knee injuries. Often, instead of ripping in two, the injured ligament will be stretched, and due to the fact they are poorly vascularized, ligament healing is slow, slow business. It can take years for a stretched ligament to shorten to its original length and heal, and that's devoid of re-injury.
Of all ACL injuries, skiing is the most common culprit. It's a matter so devilishly common that there's even a name for it""the phantom foot phenomenon""wherein the extended tail of the downhill ski in combination with the inflexible back of the sturdy ski boot force the knee into a stupefied twisting-while-bending movement that knees should not be compelled to make. Though such a pain-inducing prance has formerly meant a first-rate invitation to the edge of the surgeon's scalpel, the scientific technology of adult stem cell therapy is offering alternative options to rejuvenate ravaged knees.
Stem cells are found in abundant supply in both adult tissue as well as embryonic tissue. The regenerative effects reported have culled a slue of cowboy clinicians claiming to cure anything from Alzheimer's to Multiple Sclerosis to Crow's Feet. However, stem cells are body parts that catalyze the tissue healing process, not an instantaneous magic potion. Therefore, it is important to do your homework before undergoing any medical procedure of this sort.
Certain adult stem cell therapy clinics, on the other hand, have developed stringent methodologies such as the Regenexx Procedures which are specialized in orthopedics and have developed impressive technologies taming disparate types of stem cells. By taking adult stem cells from the patient's own body, then dispatching the self-renewing cells to target the precise area of injury, the Regenexx approach appropriately tailors the regenerative cellular treatment. Just as a successful blood transfusion demands blood of the same type, it is critical that the variety of stem cell be harmonious with the area in which injected. Blood derived stem cells, for instance, exhibit the most efficacy with distressed ACL ligaments, while other sorts of osteo-ailments serve up better results with stem cells extracted from bone marrow.
See, though nearly every part of our body has resident adult stem cells responsible for local maintenance including tissue repair, simply extracting these cells from one part of the body and injecting them into the injured knee is insufficient and likely to hurt more than help. A one size fits all approach completely ignores the underlying yet vital subtleties inherent in stem cell therapy. Yet, with the promising results thus far documented at reputable clinics specializing in calculated procedures, the potential behind this remarkable microbiological phenomenon appears poised to revive shell-shocked knees and in the process drastically enhance what we might ask in the future of medicine.
