Shoulder pain can be treated with adult stem cells

An alternative to replacement surgery for ending shoulder pain

by Dr. Noel Peterson

Chronic shoulder pain is the third most prominent cause of disability behind low back and neck pain.

When current standard non-surgical methods fail, there are few viable options available other than shoulder replacement surgery. This study confirms what we have seen in our clinic: the vast majority of our patient’s chronic shoulder pain can be resolved with regenerative medicine.

In the March 2018 Journal of Orthopaedics Spine and Sports Medicine, Dr. Richard Striano and colleagues treated 18 patients who had progressively worsening shoulder pain for greater than one year. After 1-year, all patients had failed at least 3 of the following treatments: physical therapy, home exercise, PRP, cortisone and/or hyaluronate injections.  All were then treated with autologous adipose-derived micro fragmented tissue (adipose biocellular tissue).

Stem cells can help with shoulder pain

All of these patients had chronic progressive shoulder pain and loss of useful function that included restricted range of motion, pain elevating the arm, inability to reach behind the neck or back, difficulty dressing, inability to raise the arm above 90 degrees, pain when sleeping on the affected side, weakness and loss of quality of life.  Inclusion criteria consisted of pain exceeding one year, no cortisone or other injections within 60 days, evidence of pathology on MRI and ultrasound, and all had failed prior non-surgical treatment.

All patients showed at least 50% reduction in pain scale at 3, 6, and 12 months.

If you or someone you care about has shoulder pain, send them to the doctors at Oregon Regenerative Medicine for nonsurgical treatment.

Read the full research article