Stromal Vascular Fraction (SVF)
The Stem Cell Institute in Plano, Texas offers Stromal Vascular Fraction Stem Cell Therapy as a treatment option for pain management.
WHAT IS SVF?
Stromal Vascular Fraction stem cell therapy, otherwise known as SVF, includes the extraction of stromal vascular fraction cells for stem cell reproduction. SVF of adipose tissue is a rich source of pre-adipocytes (fat cells), mesenchymal stem cells (cells that can be differentiated into a variety of cell types, such as bone cells, cartilage cells, muscle cells, and fat cells), endothelial progenitor cells (cells that play different roles in the regeneration process), T cells, B cells, mast cells as well as adipose tissue macrophages (white blood cells that engulf and digest cellular debris, foreign substances, cancer cells, and anything else that does not have the types of proteins specific to the surface of healthy body cells).
TREATMENT PROCEDURE
A physician uses liposuction to remove fat from adipose tissue, a tissue that stores fat for energy in the stomach. The SVF cells in the fat contain elements like growth factors, fibroblasts, red blood cells, white blood cells and other various types of cells. The vascular tissue, a complex, supportive tissue, in the SVF cells is separated from the adipocyte tissue, which composes a majority of each SVF cell and consists of fat. The vascular tissue is washed, spun, tested for cell count and placed in an IV for patient injection. This manipulation is used to isolate cellular components known as SVF, which is a source of adipose-derived stromal cells for clinical therapeutic uses. This processing breaks down and eliminates the structural components that function to provide cushioning and support, thereby altering the original characteristics of the cells and preparing them for reconstruction, repair or replacement. Therefore, based on this minimal manipulation for structural tissue, this processing generally is considered beneficial to the therapeutic processes used for SVF therapy.
Prolotherapy
The Stem Cell Institute offers Prolotherapy as a one of the many treatment options for joint pain.
What is Prolotherapy?
Proliferative therapy, or prolotherapy, is a procedure that boosts the body’s healing process to heal injured joints or tissue. Prolotherapy involves injecting a specific formula into the body at the site of an injury to speed the healing process. Stem cell prolotherapy specifically consists of using one’s own cells from bone marrow, blood or fat, modifying the cells through a process and injecting them into an area of pain or injury. Several forms of prolotherapy exist and are used to repair injured tissues.
Stem cell prolotherapy involves multiplying fibroblasts, or a type of cell used for wound healing, which can be found in connective tissues. The procedure also proliferates chondrocytes as well, which are cells that exist in cartilage. Physicians performing stem cell prolotherapy use stem cells produced by the body, which are called adult stem cells or mesenchymal stem cells. When the physicians injects the MSCs at the area of injury, the cells repair the structure and restore the function of the injured body part, like a tendon. They harvest MSCs from bone marrow or fat using a local anesthetic and a needle at the hip. The physician then transfers the stem cells to the wound by injection. The prolotherapy procedure lasts about 10 minutes and results in mild soreness. Stem cell prolotherapy can be used for a number of conditions, including lower back pain, joint pain, hip pain and knee pain.
Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy
What is Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy?
A liquid called plasma and solid pieces, like red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, compose blood. Platelets, proteins produced by bone marrow, aid in the clotting of blood and travel through the bloodstream for about a week, awaiting an injury in need of its help. When platelets go unused during their time in the bloodstream, the liver eliminates them. Aside from helping to form blood clots, platelets contain growth factors, which help heal injuries, including those in the spine. Growth factors maintain cells and tissues, including keeping one’s skin looking young and refreshed, and heal wounds. When an injury occurs, growth factors release cells with collagen to heal the wound.
To begin the platelet-rich plasma therapy procedure, physicians take a portion of the patient’s blood. The physician places blood in a vial and inserts it into a centrifuge. As the centrifuge spins, platelets separate from the rest of the blood. As the platelets continue to spin, their power strengthens. The platelets are removed from the centrifuge and injected into the patient’s point of pain or injury. The extra growth factors surround the wound and begin repairing it as a few stem cells make their way to the point of injury to help as well. PRP injections can help the recipient avoid having surgery, which can result in more pain and health problems. PRP injections heal the wound quickly and leave very few negative side effects, if any. In addition to injuries, PRP can help conditions like lumbar spine disc pain and cervical facet pain. A physician can evaluate a patient to determine whether the patient would benefit from PRP and could possibly take the treatment as an alternative to surgery.
Stem Cell Therapy
The Stem Cell Institute offers stem cell therapy to treat a number of chronic pain conditions.
What is Stem Cell Therapy?
Because stem cells – cells with the capability of reproducing through dividing – have the ability to develop into cells specific to a particular organ or tissue, we can designate them to work on a specific area of the body. Once designated to a specific body part, the stem cells perform special functions for that part. Stem cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat or prevent a condition through producing cells to replace damaged or older cells. Doctors harvest the cells from tissue, blood or bone marrow, with bone marrow being the most common stem cell source. These healthy harvested cells divide to maintain general stem cell numbers, or become progenitor cells. In adults, these progenitor cells migrate within the brain and function primarily to maintain neuron population. They can also help induce recovery for those who suffer from neurological disorders. For more nervous system affected disorders, such as brain and spinal cord injuries, the stem cells go to work to use their regenerative properties to repair the damage caused by cell death and loss of neurons and other essential components within the brain.
Benefits of Stem Cell Therapy:
Stem cells are thought to trigger the repair functions of the body via five primary mechanisms:
- Providing an anti-inflammatory effect to ease pain symptoms.
- Homing to damaged tissues and recruiting other cells, such as the progenitor cells that are necessary for tissue growth.
- Supporting tissue remodeling over scar tissue and formations.
- Inhibiting apoptosis (the process of programmed cell death and cell birth in the body).
- Differentiating the necessity of division into bone, cartilage, tendon and ligament tissue, as needed.
TAKE ACTION
The ultimate goal of all of our procedures is the riddance of pain, a simple yet life-changing benefit of choosing the right pain management doctor for you. Engage in your favorite activities, enjoy the time with the ones you love and return to your way of living, pain-free. Contact The Stem Cell Institute today for more information or to schedule an appointment!
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