Cartilage is a connective tissue which is firm and flexible, they are found in many parts of the body which permit nearly frictionless joint motions. Osteoarthritis happens, when there is a degeneration of the cushions (cartilages) at the ends of bones, this gradually occurs as one ages.

In osteoarthritis, the smooth surface of the cartilage becomes rough. As the degeneration progresses, the cartilage will become completely worn out, this leaves the bone rubbing on bone. End result is degenerative disease, involves loss of function, poor range of motion and persistent joint pains.

How does stem cell therapy benefit osteoarthritis?

Adult stem cell therapy is minimally invasive technique, for treatment of structural and systemic aspects of joint pain. This substancially improves the quality of life, by providing pain relief, improving the range of motion and even reduces scarring in severe cases of degenerative disease.

Your adipose (fat) tissue contains the required components to aid in repair and healing of the body, it is the most abundant, accessible and potent for longer, source of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) found in your body. Small amount of adipose tissue is withdrawn and processed to increase the concentrations of stem cells, when administered at injured site, they have the potential to:

• Treat widespread inflammation
• Stem cells propagate into the replacement bone or cartilage cells
• Reduce scarring
• Prevent any further premature cell and tissue necrosis
• Stimulate the growth of new blood vessels, this promotes the rate of healing

When to start therapy for osteoarthritis?

If treatment is started early, during initial signs of joint pains, the primary goal of the treatment would be aimed to prevent the progression of the disease. At this stage, stem cell therapy heals any bone on bone damage, loss of cartilage and subdues severe pain.

Although, if treatment is initiated at later stages of diease, then objective would be focused on regrowing cartilage, reduce bone inflammation and edema so there is pain relief. Benefits can last for months to years, with a sharp decrease in pain levels, increased range of motion and able to be more active.

The Procedure

Stem cell treatments at TheSwissClinic are minimally invasive, most often an outpatient procedure so patient may go home the same day. Recovery times vary patient to patient, we strive to keep our patients downtime to the minimum. What happens at our clinic on the day of your procedure:

• Physician makes a tiny puncture through your skin either in abdomen or thighs, to harvest a small amount of fat.
• The fat is then processed in a Lipogems device using sterile saline solution. During this gentle process of micro-fragmentation, fat is washed, rinsed and resized into smaller clusters all while maintaining its natural healing phenomenon. This closed-loop system removes blood, fatty oils and inflammatory cells, leaving behind the concentrated fat (pericytes) which is therapeutic.
• Physician injects the resultant cells into the treatment site, under ultrasound or 2D-fluoroscopic guidance. This ensures the stem cells properly reach where they are required.
• Over the course of next 6-8 weeks, healing process continues as nature had intended for us, all while having excellent pain relief.