Stem Cell Therapy Doctor in New York

What is stem cell therapy?

Stem cells are cells that are found in your body, which generate new cells under certain conditions. New cells are needed to replace old, damaged, or diseased cells in your body. Usually, the conditions needed to naturally create new cells only occurs in your body. However, current research has developed a way to generate these same conditions, allowing doctors to offer stem cell therapy as a regenerative treatment option for patients. Stem cell therapy is utilized at Specialty Orthopaedics to stimulate your body’s healing process for patients suffering from a wide range of orthopedic conditions.

Why is stem cell therapy used?

Stem cell therapy may be recommended by one of our orthopedic specialists if you are suffering from any of the below conditions:

What does stem cell therapy involve?

Stem cell therapy involves using naturally-occurring cells to help your body regenerate new, healthy tissues. Depending on the type of stem cell therapy you are undergoing, your process will vary. At Specialty Orthopaedics, we walk you through all of the steps of your stem cell therapy, guiding you on what you can expect as you go through your treatment.

Undergoing stem cell therapy with our experienced physicians at Specialty Orthopaedics means you’ll have a partner throughout your treatment process as well as your recovery. We take the time to coordinate your personal treatment and recovery plan and are always available to answer your questions along the way.

What are the benefits of having stem cell therapy?

man tennisUsing stem cell therapy has many benefits, which include:

  • Non-surgical healing and pain relief
  • Enhances your natural ability to heal
  • Helps treat the actual issue rather than its symptoms
  • Experienced and caring orthopedic specialists
  • Evidence-based and innovative approaches to regenerative medicine
  • Affiliated with some of the best orthopedic hospitals in the country

How is stem cell therapy performed?

If you’re considering stem cell therapy, you will have a consultation with Dr. Zelicof, Dr. Dhar, Dr.  Nikci, or Dr. Littljohn, and they will discuss the process. The human body keeps a supply of stem cells in reserve to use after injury. These can be found in the bone marrow. The easiest location to access your bone marrow is from the back of the hip area, the iliac bone.

The procedure is performed in our offices, and there is some variation between patients, but here’s a general idea of what is involved. The patient lies face down and the area is cleaned and locally anesthetized. Your Specialty Orthopaedics surgeon inserts a special needle into the bone to withdraw marrow blood. This contains the stem cells. This harvesting procedure isn’t to be confused with a bone marrow biopsy, which can be quite painful. Our patients find harvesting to be easily tolerated.

Once we draw the bone marrow blood, the sample is placed in a centrifuge that concentrates and purifies the stem cells. We can also use the sample to create platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to further fuel the healing process. PRP is simply concentrated blood platelets, plasma, and white blood cells (after removing the red blood cells).

The final step is the re-injection of the concentrated stem cells into the injured joint or the area of the strain. In many cases, PRP is injected at the same time to kick-start the healing process with the concentrated platelets. From there, your body takes over.

What are the risks of stem cell therapy?

woman and doctorThese treatments have proven to be very safe and low risk. This is because we use the patient’s own stem cells for re-injection. There can be some mild discomfort with the harvesting and re-injection, but this is easily tolerated. There is potential for nerve damage, but this is exceedingly rare. Your Specialty Orthopaedics doctor will discuss the risks involved with stem therapy during your consultation.

How many stem cell injection sessions will I need?

It’s important to remember that the stem cells used for your injections are from your body. There is no risk for reactions and the like. That makes it not a problem to have repeat stem cell therapy sessions down the road. The duration of their efficacy varies with different patients, but once you feel the relief is starting to end and the pain is increasing, you can have another stem cell injection session at that point.

How long will the injected stem cells work at the site?

The goal of our stem cell treatments at Specialty Orthopaedics is to reduce the patient’s pain and improve function without having to resort to surgery. Once injected, the stem cells will continue to work and form new cells in the target area for up to one year. Again, our patients have had varying results with stem cell injections. Some patients have experienced pain relief for six months, while others have felt their injected joint was much improved for a couple of years.

Are stem cell therapy treatments painful?

We apply local anesthetic to the areas where we are both harvesting the stem cells and then re-injecting them. These are not painful treatments.

Is there any downtime or recovery after my stem cell injections?

No. Patients can get right back to their normal activities after their stem cell session. With some conditions, your doctor may recommend avoiding certain sports or exercise routines for a short period of time. 

Does insurance cover the cost of stem cell therapy?

Most insurance companies consider stem cell therapy to be, at least at this point, experimental treatment. As such, they will not cover it.

Contact us Today

If you are interested in stem cell therapy, visit Specialty Orthopaedics. Our New York orthopedic practice is home to a team of fellowship-trained orthopedists in a variety of specialty areas. We offer comprehensive treatment for musculoskeletal disorders in a caring and responsive clinical atmosphere. Give us a call at 914.686.0111 or fill out the form on this page to schedule your appointment today.

headshot of older male doctor smiling widely in white coat

Dr. Steven Zelicof

Joint Replacement & Arthritis Specialist

Dr. Yasmin Dhar

Dr. Yasmin Dhar

Sports Medicine & Arthroscopic Surgery Specialist

Request an Appointment

Thank you for contacting us! We will get in touch with you shortly.