Home › Blog › Helping a Serious Skier Stay Active using his own Stem Cells

DF is a 54 year old who has been skiing hard and aggressive for 46 years. About 6 years ago he began to notice swelling in the back of his knees after a hard day of skiing. This past few years, by the end of the ski season his knees were generally in very bad shape. He began to avoid the bumps and powder, as more aggressive skiing made his knees worse. Also, hiking downhill would beat up his knees and make them feel unstable, so he began to limit his hiking as well. When he was first evaluated by our clinic to consider using his own stem cells to help his arthritic knees, he was concerned that the direction he was headed would eventually lead to him to give up skiing and hiking due to his advancing knee arthritis. An MRI of the left knee showed some loss of cartilage on the outside (lateral) compartment with tears in the meniscus and on exam demonstrated a loose ACL ligament. In September of last year he decided to undergo the Regenexx-SD stem cell procedure for his left knee as well as additional injections to tighten the loose ACL ligament. I just visited with the patient in the office this week and he reports that at 10 months out from his left knee stem cell procedure, this knee held up very well last ski season. Specifically, he was able to significantly increase his aggressive skiing with less pain and swelling. In fact, the left knee used to be his worst knee, but now he notices the untreated right knee more often. The ACL on the treated left knee now has a tighter feel on exam, while the untreated knee is still a bit loose on ACL tests. DF would like us to treat the untreated right knee now with a knee stem cell injection, so he can get even more aggressive this ski season. We’ve successfully treated many other local and international skiers with knee problems who wanted to avoid surgery so we’re happy to help DF stay in the bumps and powder, hopefully for years to come!

NOTE:  Regenexx-SD is a medical procedure and like all medical procedures has a success and failure rate.  Not all patients experience the same result.

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