Regenerative Stem Cell & PRP Treatments - Update - Nov 22, 2021
 

Wondering if others here have had Stem Cell injections and what was your experience, did it last longer than cortisone & would you do it again ?

My story …. was in a car crash in MB in 1983, got rear ended bad.

Today I went back to the CAPRI clinic (Central Alberta Pain & Rehab Inst) in Lacombe.

Had my second cortisone injection into my L4/5 & L5/S1 facet joints in my lower back, first time was in July, I got 4 months of pain relief, now I’m back taking Advil or Aleve.

For my next appointment in April 2018, I decided to give the “Stem Cell” option a try, where they extract my bone marrow & stem cells from my pelvis area separate it in a centrifuge and then inject my cells into the same four damaged locations and they regenerate around the damaged cartilage/nerve area.

The Doc said for some of his patients this treatment has been very effective in the back/spine vs knee or other joints and his patients are experiencing more lasting relieve & progressively gets better after 4-6 months and patients say they have seen improvements up to a year. Then he said there hasn’t been enough science/studies to say I will see similar improvements.

Was very impressed with Dr. R. Burnham and Dr. L Playfair, they said, the procedure isn’t covered by Health Care, cost quoted was $2,300.00 they will take my Master Card.

Tks in advance, look forward to some feedback & replies ….

David




https://i.imgur.com/5jCWAOg.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/KceX1gC.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/3wtzawQ.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/RgKE3r8.jpg

The harvesting sounds like it would hurt. Keep us posted on how it goes going forward.

My Dad had the PRP procedure in his shoulder. He noticed that it helped fairly quickly. He got it done at Paradigm in Calgary. He said there were lots of athletes in there that use this treatment regularly.

Just looked up CAPRI last night. Friend of a friend had his knees done a while back and was happy with the results. I’ll be filling out the form fairly soon to hopefully do the same.

Interesting .... it appears not many members have pursued this treatment.

Today, my lower back is feeling a bit of discomfort, but nothing serious, I haven't had to take any Advil yet hope I can get another 3-4 months of relief from the cortisone shots.

Guess I'll be the first Crash Test Dummy to bite the bullet and try the Stem Cell injections when I get back from SoCal in early April.

Perhaps there may be others who can chime in ....

Tks

D.

hopeful updates!
 

I'll be watching the progress on this one fairly closely. I have been dealing with a torn disc for a few years now, and every six months I go in for radiofrequency treatment, where they burn the nerve endings to kill the pain. Seems like the last half dozen times in there now, the treatment is more and more painful, with less results. It's time for another alternative.
Good luck, and hopefully it works out for you!

Be careful of cortisone injections they don't tell you about the risk of stomach bleeds.

Very interested in updates on this thread. Those that made comments about the knee's, was this because of arthritis or damaged knee's due to an accident??

Merry Christmas Everyone !!

Dodger.

cortisone injection...be careful...I have heard that the treatment actually degrades the bones where the stuff is injected.....I have heard this from several people one being a nurse .... seems the medical community regards this as common knowledge.

PRP or stem cell
 

I'm having my first consultation on Jan. 3 Both of my knees were damaged in seperate accidents many years ago and now x-rays show the cartillege is worn out. Right knee hurts all the time and the left only some days. I have a friend that had PRP 3 years ago in right hip and he told me that he has had almost no pain since. & i haven't seen him limping. I am looking forward to see what they recommend & hoping they can help. ? for OP how long did you have to wait from first consultation until treatment

Dr Burnham is the best you can get. I go once a year for a radiofrequencyneurotomy (RFN). This is where they burn off the nerve endings under xray. It doesnt get rid of all the pain but it gets rid of the sciatic pain.

I had a dental implant in early June, was healing up beautifully and dentist put the crown on in late Sept.
Around the same time I had a cortizone shot in my shoulder for a rotater cuff tear (at WCBs request) and month later my implant was loose in my jaw.
Dentist says there have been no studies and no proof but the dental community sees this with steroid use.
The cortizone shot helped with the shoulder pain but I won't be doing it again.
Personally, I'd have to be in pretty dire straits to try that stem cell treatment

Tagged for interest for my back issues / compressed disk.

Keep us posted and let us know how she goes

I first found out about the CARPI Clinic from a fellow I met in Palm Springs who actually lives in Salmon Arm. He said he's being seeing Dr. Burnham for the past 2 years, he's had the RFN (burn nerve) not stem cell implants. When we got back from SoCal, I seen my Doc in early May and he forwarded my referral got my first appointment 3 months later. Had my one hour consult as well my first treatment/injections on July 31st, had immediate relief that lasted about 4 months. Hoping my own Stem Cells regenerate and provide longer lasting and/or permanent relief.


From what I understand, it's more of a reward than a risk by using your own stem cells to reproduce and correct damaged cartilage/tissue, and if it relieves the pain for up to a year, and you get a good nights sleep, it's worth every penny.


Check out the 6 minute video on their website .... quite informative .... link ....

https://www.capriclinic.ca/home


Tks all, for sharing your stories.

Cheers

David

Just back from my initial consultation. I am a candidate for either PRP or stem cell therapy. The Dr. told me we all have stem cells throughout our bodies and the PRP tells them to start doing their job again and with the stem cell treatment they now reccomend PRP shortly after treatment ,like a month later so as to give the implanted stem cells a better chance of success. I'm going to do the PRP only for a couple of reasons One is cost and the other is that I know a fellow that had it done about 3 years ago and he is fine to this day. One of my concerns was what options would be available in the future if this doesn't work. Turns out that if PRP doesn't work I could still go for stem cell therapy or knee replacement

After 3+ months in SoCal, I returned home to get my Stem Cell Therapy/Procedure done yesterday (April 17th) with Dr. L. Playfair at the CAPRI, Lacombe, the actual procedure was completed within 1 hour and went very well, perhaps better than expected.

I’m required to rest and try to stay off my feet/lay down for 3 days so I’m here on the couch watching some TV & surfing the laptop so I decided to update my progress/thread.

Arrived early for my appointment, met Loren the Kinesiologist, we discussed how to optimize the outcome of my treatment, he answered a number of my general questions and provided a handout for my exercise/stretching rehab program.

Then it was my turn for the procedure, the Doc answered a few more of my Q’s I was wondering what the longevity of the Stem Cell would be and how would I know if the treatment was successful. Was told they will be following up with me on my progress (3-6-12 months) but NOT to expect a noticeable difference until 4-8 weeks, and maximum relief would be in 5-6 months, he said some patients have had 2 and up to 3 years of relief before having another treatment.

I was prep’d, first with local freezing of my left pelvis area where they would be extracting the bone marrow/stem cells. The Doc then inserted a hollow needle through my pelvis bone and into the bone marrow, he hit the device with something (I imagined similar to a small hammer) about 3-4 times and using a syringe attached to the needle, he withdrew the bone marrow. It didn’t really hurt and was done in only a few minutes. He said he had a good sample, no dry well, relief!

The nurse put the sample material into a centrifuge to separate the platelet rich plasma (PRP) and my stem cells from the white blood cells and other contents. The next step was injecting my Stem Cell/PRP into my spine area, I asked the doc how much they put into the 4 locations (L4/5 & L5/S1) I believe he said about 10 cc/ml ?? I asked how many of my stem cells would be in there, I recall him saying perhaps up to 2 million cells. He said your age may affect the quality and amount, I’m hoping their all good. I couldn’t really feel the first 3 injections, however, the 4th took my breath away, & was told to keep breathing it was almost over.

They put some temp gauze and a Band-Aid on and gave me an RX for Tramadol as they don’t want you taking any anti-inflammatory for a minimum 4-week period, like Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Aleve or products like Voltaren, Turmeric and/or ice which all could inhibit the healing & regeneration process.

The Mrs was waiting for me in the waiting room, paid my bill ($2,300.00) which isn’t covered under Ab Health Care, and off we went. You need a ride home, not recommended that you drive.

Was told to expect some post-injection soreness, took one Tramadol before I went to bed at 11:00ish, slept till 5:30am looked at the clock & fell asleep again until 7:30. Feeling pretty good, no need to take another pill, yet.

The next 3 days will be R/R off my feet, the Doc said this will allow the Stem Cells to attach themselves to the damaged tissue/area and start the healing process. Thereafter, I’m told I can continue with normal activity but no heavy lifting, heavy exercise or impact sports for the first month, normal exercise only, mainly walks, swimming, bike riding as tolerated and after 2 weeks I can try Golf, but don’t over do it.

In conclusion, I’ve had two cortisone/steroids injections that were only effective for < 3 months. This treatment doesn’t work for everyone, however, I’m hopeful using my own stem cells will be more successful and I enjoy a pain free day with a good night’s sleep, if I achieve that, it’s worth every penny.

Pic of the area, just above my belt line. Now I have to get my CCRA Tax's in order, they want their money, I imagine that will be more painful than the stem cell treatment.

Cheers .... David

https://i.imgur.com/Gv9ulUu.jpg

I hope it turns out as well as you had hoped it would. Good luck!

CAPRI Clinic has helped out a number of my Clients who have been badly injured in car accidents.

To get to this stage takes a lot, as this is not mainstream treatment protocol. For many, relief can be had with Cortizone, but for a few, it does not.

I cannot imagine the pain that justifies this treatment, but a number of my Clients have found no relief from any other therapy available.

Drewski

I had a cortisone injection at my L4/L5 last November from Dr.Burnham, didn't doing anything for me unfortunately. When back in for a follow up appointment 2 weeks ago and they were almost ready for the stem cell injections for disc problems. I decided not to get it done because I'm currently getting prolo injections, PRP injections, and none surgical spinal decompression. If my current treatment doesn't work I'll be getting the stem cell injections. Hope it works out for you!

I will be looking Into this procedure a little closer
Maybe it will help with my sciatic problems where the dics have degenerated or squished down and are putting pressure on the nerve where it goes out and down the right leg.
I believe it is the L5 where the problem is , I have had a few steroid coritzone shots in the back,
I had three in Lloyd with no relieve to 3 weeks of good pain free,
Then had one in Edmonton that was right in the nerve root, that was really painfull but it has worked for about 5 months, 3 of those being good , then lately if I do any amount of walking the pain is back,
Maybe this may help? Sounds like I should get away from the steroid needles in the back if possible

Interesting - please keep us up to speed on your recovery

Glad you got that done and over with Zip...in the long frun I'm sure it was the right call, now if I could get you to a golf course before you recoup..I may just have a chance on a very close loss!
Take care and don't overdue ..
Zip:)

Well damn, your thread made me want to look into this further as I know someone it might help, and the Capri Clinic's website currently shows this:

Tks all, for the well wishes & support.

GeoTrekr, tks for posting the additional Website info. While the Mrs was in the waiting room, she overheard the front staff advising people calling & inquiring about the Stem Cell Therapy and the current Health Canada's restrictions, hopefully this will get resolved and CAPRI can resume accepting new patients in the near future.

Zip-to-Zip .... R. hope to get out to your track for that green meeting sometime this year, with all the snow just think how big those blood sucking mosquitoes will be, look forward to it!

Perhaps I was fortunate to get in when I did, nevertheless, I will update any new info/progress.

Cheers

D.



Link to CAPRI Website ...https://www.capriclinic.ca/

For more info see their video.


.

Interesting form of therapy. Seems a better alternative than meds if it works. Good luck on the recovery.

I hope for a really positive outcome for you!

Keep us posted on how the stem cell injections are working for you. Dr Burnham tried talking me into stem cell injections in February and I said I would wait another year to see what kind of relief others are getting. I have been getting a Radio frequency neurotomy once a year for the last 7or 8 years. Had it done this past February by Dr Burnham and it didn’t seem to help much this time. Had cortisone again this morning.

I have been looking at this for a bit now, interesting that this thread just popped up. This is the same treatment that Joe Rogan got done for his back issues. Sucks that the clinic stopped taking new patients, gonna have to strengthen my back the natural way until they accept new patients. Did you find out what PRP costs?

It's been close to 2 weeks since my procedure, I can truthfully say I have found some pain relief and I'm not taking any med's but have a long way to go.

I read this article about Jack Nicklaus and thought it was worth posting.

Cheers

David


Cut & Paste from Golfweek .... Jack Nicklaus has endured debilitating back pain his entire life and in 2016 underwent experimental stem cell therapy in Munich, Germany. Nicklaus’ back pain has been at an “eight or nine out of 10 on the pain scale” for decades, he tells CNN.

Yet, as far back as his teen years, Nicklaus was combating back pain and taking cortisone injections. Now 78, he had a minor spinal procedure at age 64 to relieve the pressure on his nerve roots. Event that eventually failed to relieve his pain.

Nicklaus figures he has swung a golf club about 10 million times. Those swings have been productive, resulting in 120 professional tournament victories and a record 18 majors. But they have exacted a price.

A few months after Nicklaus met German stem cell pioneer Dr. Eckhard Alt at his 75th birthday party, the Golden Bear was convinced that adipose stem cells, found in abdominal fat, may finally provide him with permanent back pain relief.

On Feb. 22, 2016, Nicklaus received 10 injections in his back on each side of his lower back and four in his cervical spine, CNN reported.

While he didn’t feel “immediate relief,” Nicklaus did notice “the pain he used to feel while actively playing golf, had subsided after a few months.”

Why did Nicklaus keep this treatment a secret? “I didn’t keep it private, no one asked me about it,” he told CNN.

Nicklaus is scheduled for his next stem cell treatment – on his right shoulder – Saturday in Munich.

Follow the link ....

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/27/healt...apy/index.html



.

I see Jack Nicklaus just got this done says he's golfing like a 50 year old again

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk