Can Stem Cells help a College Track Athlete with Ankle Arthritis return to Competition?

ankle stem cells

KW is a 21 year old college level elite track athlete who sought our help in May of 2011 and had very positive results in our care.  As doctors we can only continue to finetune our procedures through research and hope for these kind of results.  Obviously not all Regenexx patients can expect these results from ankle stem cells procedures…this is KW’s personal story:

When KW first came to us she had a history of ankle pain for 5 months that had failed conservative care and a steroid injection. Her ankle MRI showed swelling in the main ankle joint bones and mild degenerative arthritis with chronic sprains of the main outside ankle ligaments (ATF and CF). The patient first had Dr. Schultz inject proliferants to tighten the lax ankle ligaments in May and then the Regenexx-SCP into the same ligaments in June. In August, once the ankle was more stable, Dr. Schultz then performed the Regenexx-SD procedure by placing her own stem cells into the large ankle joint (TT) as well as into the outside ankle ligaments. Her result? Here is an e-mail sent by her to Dr. Schultz by the patient:

 “Hello Dr. Schultz,

It’s been a while since I have updated you on my progress and I felt that I had to share how well I have been doing.

I had my procedure done on my ankle last August. Until the past few months, I kept expecting something to go wrong or for my ankle to begin hurting again because it just felt too good to be true. However, I honestly can say that I believed I am healed and 100%. It took about 6 months post-injection for the pain and stiffness to stop, and since then I have been training to gain back my endurance and strength for running.
I am participating in weight lifting, hurdle drills and most importantly back to running 60+ miles a week with NO pain or stiffness in my ankle joint.

I feel so blessed to have had this opportunity…I am applying to medical school this coming year, and it was your compassion and high quality of patient care that has really pushed me to do so. This treatment and the concept of stem-cells is fascinating, and I anticipate future advances in medicine and treatments involving stem-cells. Thank you for helping me run again and for strengthening a passion of mine!”

NOTE:  Regenexx-SD and Regenexx-SCP are medical procedures and like all medical procedures have a success and failure rate.  Not all Regenexx ankle patients will have the same result.

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Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile

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NOTE: This blog post provides general information to help the reader better understand regenerative medicine, musculoskeletal health, and related subjects. All content provided in this blog, website, or any linked materials, including text, graphics, images, patient profiles, outcomes, and information, are not intended and should not be considered or used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please always consult with a professional and certified healthcare provider to discuss if a treatment is right for you.

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