A significant number of individuals who reach out to our office in search of treatment for thumb pain have previously undergone a lengthy series of treatments with minimal success. Indeed, many will admit that their physicians are now suggesting pain management strategies (such as anti-inflammatories and painkillers) as their main course of action, given that splints, physical therapy, and ice are no longer effective. These individuals will continue with pain management until a decision is made regarding surgery or the choice to “live with it.”

Can stem cell therapy help avoid surgery?

Surgery should always be regarded as the final option. In certain cases, the damage to the joint is so extensive and critical that surgical intervention may be the only solution. However, for many, surgery can realistically be avoided, and the thumb joint can be reconstructed using regenerative medicine injections.

 

Stem Cell Therapy for thumb osteoarthritis

In our experience of over 27 years seeing patients with thumb osteoarthritis we have seen positive results bone marrow derived stem cell. There is research coming suggesting that the positive effects of stem cell therapy studied and documented in the large joints, the hips and knees for example, can be demonstrated in the small joints, those of the thumb for example. This was suggested and shown by research in the journal Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open. (1)

Stem cells offered in the thumb region act in the same manner as those injected into the knee. In our observations we have noted:

  • We found that in the short-term, receiving multiple injections into a painful joint is more effective than receiving a single stem cell injection.
  • Functionality score increased after first treatment, illustrating that patients experienced an immediate benefit in performing everyday activities with less difficulty.
  • By the second injection, patients began to report improvement with pain at rest. Patients then experienced additional decreases in resting pain with each treatment thereafter.
  • The increase in mean functionality score with successive stem cell treatments shows that increasing the number of BMC treatments improves patient performance in daily activities. 

 

1. Murphy MP, Buckley C, Sugrue C, Carr E, O’Reilly A, O’Neill S, Carroll SM. ASCOT: Autologous Bone Marrow Stem Cell Use for Osteoarthritis of the Thumb-First Carpometacarpal Joint. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2017 Sep 19;5(9):e1486. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000001486. PubMed PMID: 29062653; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5640358.