What should you do if you tear your meniscus? We discuss prognosis, recovery time, and treatment options, including alternatives to surgery.
The search for the “holy grail” is an ongoing quest for human instinct and survival. The hottest topic in the stem cell medical industry is now about amniotic stem cells.
What are amniotic stem cells and what's the power and intrigue about them?
Amniotic stem cells are a mixture of stem cells that can be obtained from the amniotic fluid of a baby fetus in its sac. There are few cells in the amniotic fluid or as some call it “fetal urine.” Though rich in growth factors and certain other anti-inflammatory agents, their regenerative capacity is limited when compared to mesenchymal stem cells.
However, many commercially available amniotic products are being used as regenerative treatments specifically in orthopedics. The use of amniotic stem cells to reverse anti-aging has no scientific or medical backing yet, it is being marketed as a “beauty trend” to combat aging.
Further, the question is being a foreign source to your body, are amniotic products safe and would they be effective in your body?
How does this compare with using your own stem cells to restore and naturally regenerate?
We don’t have definitive answers to these questions yet. The hype around amniotic stem cells can be a dangerous claim. It's often assumed that as you get older your own cells may not be as strong as needed to effectively repair, although there is no scientific basis to that argument.
Currently, stem cell treatments, especially in orthopedics, can help repair and regenerate, but they do not turn the clock back by many years as some may assume.
Sorry no “fountain of youth” yet!
Another reason patients may look toward an outside source is that they are apprehensive about the harvesting process. Though again, harvesting your own cells is a very short minimally invasive procedure and leaves absolutely no footprint or scars.
Some reasons practices may not harvest your own cells can be reasons of convenience, lack of familiarity and experience.
For most of us, it’s easy to pull something out of a prepared vial and inject rather than performing a laborious process of preparing your own cells.
These vials of amniotic fluid/cells become like “shelf products” and are used as an as-needed basis with no real evidence of their efficacy and very little understanding of the potential risks involved. Right now, there are more questions than answers when it comes to amniotic products, hopefully, in time we will learn more about them.
A more effective and promising, non-surgical treatment is regenerative cell therapy. Regenerative cell therapy or “stem cell therapy” in mainstream terms, utilize your own regenerative cells to heal and restore your damaged ligaments, cartilage or menisci, whether it’s a knee, shoulder, hip or any painful joint in your body. Give your body a chance to heal itself naturally with your own cells rather than rely on an outside source.
To learn more about regenerative treatments for your knee, shoulder or hip, call 949-734-9696 to request additional information or to learn more schedule an initial 1:1 evaluation.
Based in Newport Beach, CA, the Goswami Clinic is an innovative sports medicine clinic lead by Dr. Gaurav Goswami who treats sports injury, joint pain, arthritis, declining performance and more.
Known for his non-conventional methods, Dr. Goswami specializes in Regenerative Sports Medicine providing advanced minimally invasive, non-surgical treatments to athletes of all ages and levels with the goal of returning them to optimal performance.
How to Prevent Fatigue and Burnout
Athletes understand that competing comes with a price of potential injury that could change their sports careers, especially if they don't properly address their health conditions.
Since athletes are mostly Type A personalities, excellence and relentless training come with an overwhelming toll.
Fatigue and recovery from the competition and ongoing workout can be a hard journey to sustain. And it takes professional therapists and doctors to assist in sports injury, recovery, and therapy.
What do athletes need to know about their fitness regimen
As an athlete or a person with an active lifestyle suffers from a repeated or one-time injury, there will come a time when it’s necessary to prepare your body to return to your sport with endurance, power, and agility.
This type of sports therapy, known as “return to play therapy,” is specific to the sport you play.
With a "return to play" approach, you're guided through the proper steps and exercises to help you recover quickly. You learn how to condition your body and the injured site to return to rigorous play.
Movement patterns and imbalances are assessed and corrected to prevent fewer injuries including repetitive motion injuries, rotator cuff injuries, and overuse injuries.
At PreciseCare, we offer a comprehensive treatment and rehab program to ensure the highest level of recovery and sports therapy to allow athletes to return to their play and respective competitive sports.
With this integrated sports injury, recovery, and prevention program, we can help personalize individual’s goals, sports lifestyle, and training to deliver the most optimized outcome while treating and healing the root of the injury.
Another major element is muscle fatigue.
Muscle fatigue is an exercise-induced reduction in maximal voluntary muscle force, which may be caused by peripheral changes at the level of the muscle (peripheral fatigue).
It may also occur because the central nervous system fails to drive the moto-neurons adequately (central fatigue).
Fatigue is inherently a part of exercising but in our training plan and preparation, we can identify imbalanced patterns at the core of injury causality and correct them through targeted training.
Depending on the nature and extent of the injury, therapeutic exercises, home exercise programs, and manual techniques are included as well in the program.
Our rehab program and regenerative cell treatments are carefully designed to help with preventative injuries for future play while healing any injured areas as holistically as possible.
To learn more about our sports therapy program and regenerative treatments for your knee, shoulder, ankle, hip or spine, request additional information or to learn more give us a call or schedule an initial 1:1 evaluation.
Based in Newport Beach, CA, Precise Care is an innovative sports medicine clinic lead by Dr. Gaurav Goswami who treats sports-related injuries, joint pain, arthritis, declining performance and more.
Known for his non-conventional methods, Dr. Goswami specializes in Regenerative Sports Medicine providing advanced minimally invasive, non-surgical treatments to athletes of all ages and levels with the goal of returning them to optimal performance.
Like everything else, the more/longer we use something, the faster it wears down—even our bodies! Our knees and other joints are particularly sensitive to this wear and tear. As the knee “wears out” you’ll find it harder to run, walk, bend or even put weight on your knees. As the pain gets worse, your doctor may start talking to you about knee replacement surgery...
Let’s not sugarcoat this: you got hurt. Maybe it was your fault. Perhaps you let your pride get the better of you, and you agreed to play tackle football with the teenagers in the neighborhood after one of them called you “old.”
Maybe it was an honest accident and wasn’t your fault at all. What matters today isn’t how you got hurt, but what you do to recover from that injury.
Before you say “eh, it’s nothing. I’m fine” and try to go about your day like usual . . . stop!
Pushing through the pain is only admirable when women are giving birth or when an actor pretends to be a superhero in a movie. In real life, pushing through—aka ignoring—the pain could exacerbate your injury and make things worse. You might even cause permanent damage!
What You Need to Know for a Healthy Recovery
The most important thing you need to know for a healthy recovery is that every injury is unique because every person is unique. So even if your sister-in-law had this exact same injury last year, what worked for her might not work for you.
This is why it is important to see a doctor and get your injury checked out. Your doctor can help you put together a plan that will work for you.
What Are Your Treatment Options?
When it comes to joint and muscle-based injuries, there are three basic options:
1. Ignore it and do nothing
We’ve already talked about this a little bit. Pretending that you didn’t get hurt is only temporarily good for your ego. That said, there are some injuries in which time and taking it easy is the only thing you can do.
Sprains are a good example of this.
Even if you’re pretty sure this is going to be the way to go, you should confirm with your doctor.
2. Surgery
For tears and certain types of joint injuries, repairing the injured tissues and cartilage with surgery is often the go-to. Most of these surgeries add a few weeks or even months onto your recovery time frame.
While it’s normal to feel freaked out when your doctor tells you that you are likely going to need surgery, know that this isn’t always the only option available to you.
3. Regenerative medicine
Regenerative medicine is a newer technique in which a doctor uses stem cell therapy, sometimes in conjunction with a process called PRP. These processes use your body’s own stem cells and platelets to help “jump start” your body’s ability to repair itself.
There are pros and cons for each of these treatment options. Let’s break them down.
Doing Nothing: Well, it's certainly cheaper—at least in the beginning. And it can make you look super tough, which might help you earn some street cred.
On the downside, though, you will probably just exacerbate the injury, which means it will be harder to fix and the recovery process will be longer and more complicated (and likely more painful).
Surgery: This type of treatment is painful and has a long recovery time. It's also the riskiest as even surgeries deemed routine carry some risk of complications. Even during recovery, surgery carries with it a risk of infection and other post-op complications (like blood clots). Still, for certain injuries, it's the medically sound choice.
Regenerative Medicine: This treatment offers the shortest and simplest recovery process. Patients are often able to walk out of the clinic the same day as their treatments and report a notable improvement in just a few weeks. And because the procedure consists of injections, there aren’t any surgical complications to worry about.
Will You Need Rehab?
Probably. Rehabilitation and physical therapy are a good idea for joint and muscle injuries, especially for those that require medical intervention. This is something that many people forget to consider when evaluating their treatment options.
Working with professionals to rehabilitate your body after these injuries is of critical importance. In addition to helping ensure that your injury heals properly, your rehab will help build up your body’s strength and endurance, which can help prevent the injury from recurring.
Diet & Exercise
What you eat while in recovery will play a direct role in the recovery itself. It’s true! In fact, you likely already know this. It’s why you drink Gatorade and chow down on a protein bar after you finish a workout—you want to replace your electrolytes and give your muscles a shot of protein to kick-start the healing process.
When you are recovering from an injury, it is important to eat foods that will help speed up that process. And no, Doritos do not count.
Aim for foods that are rich in Omega-3s, antioxidants, Vitamins A and C and protein. Reduce your intake of carbs and fatty foods.
And remember: just because someone told that you need to rest and take it easy, doesn’t mean that you need to be completely still (unless your doctor says so).
Low impact exercise like yoga and Pilates are good ways to keep your body fit while you recover. Even if you’re laid up on the couch, there are stretches and movements you can do, that don’t require standing and can be done while keeping your injured area immobile.
Despite what you might have read on social media, there is more to self-care than simply pampering yourself and giving yourself excuses to indulge. Self-care is also about doing what you need to do to make sure that you stay healthy, physically, emotionally and mentally.
Good examples of self-care include:
- Making sure to get enough sleep at night
- Taking your vitamins
- Maintaining personal hygiene: daily bathing, teeth brushing, skincare, etc.
- Spending time with people you care about and enjoy
- Taking time to yourself when you need it
Remember: every injury is unique. Get your injury checked out by a doctor and create a treatment and recovery plan together.
Ask your doctor to recommend some diet and exercise tips so you can stay active even while you’re taking it easy. And make sure you talk to your doctor about how you are doing mentally and emotionally as well as physically—especially if your injury is severe. They can help you with these things.
Don’t self-diagnose. And remember: Google is not a doctor and shouldn’t be consulted instead of an actual human.
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