Can Stem Cell Therapy Replace Knee Replacement?

Six months after a total knee replacement I am still not where I should be.  Weakness and pain, and an inability to get back to my normal activities are just some of my problems.  So, when I started talking to the woman sitting next to me on the plane ride from San Diego to Denver and she told me she was just returning from Tijuana where she had stem cell therapy, my ears perked up.

She had gone to a Tijuana clinic last year for her left knee, and her results we so good that she went back to have her other knee injected.  She explained the process to me.  It's a minimally invasive procedure, where one's own stem cells are removed from your body, either through the hip or the belly button, then injected into the knee.  It takes several months to evaluate the results.  Researchers believe that stem cell therapy for the knee works by developing into essential cartilage cells, thwarting the inflammation that can worsen arthritis, and releasing proteins called cytokines that slow degeneration of cartilage and reduce pain.

Stem cell therapy is available in the U.S., but is not covered by insurance yet.  The same procedure is done in Tijuana and other locations outside the U.S, at a fraction of the cost.  The cost in Tijuana is around $2,500 per knee, where the same procedure in the U.S. is about $20,000.

Most experts feel stem cell therapy will be covered by Medicare and other health companies in the near future.  This is very promising procedure for those with osteoarthritis.