Every so often, a patient will ask if growth and repair of damaged joint tissue will continue after they are done with a series of PRP Stem Cell Joint Repair procedures. I hope to have explained this early-on with patients, but I’m committed to repeating myself. Here are the stages of healing:
1. Growth and repair —- THREE TO FOUR WEEKS.
After each injection procedure, new, healthy teenage tissue is grown by your own body precisely where it is needed, in areas of tearing or excessive wearing of ligaments, tendons, fascia, meniscal or labral fibrocartilage, joint cartilage, etc. It is a short 3-4 week window of opportunity, and therefore we almost always need to re-ignite that growing mode around six times, plus or minus, with injection interventions around a month apart (gaps can be OK).
But, the occasional question of some patients is whether growth and repair will continue on its own long after their series of injection interventions. The answer is NO. But, there are some other stages of healing that do continue for a long time.
2. Remodelling —- plus or minus ONE YEAR.
This is a process that goes on after our joint repair, or after surgery. The newly mended tissue gradually, on its own, optimizes, gets more fiber-like, more organized, stronger, more competent. This is a good deal, and your body does it by itself, without any medical input.
3. Muscles adapt —- plus or minus ONE YEAR.
Muscles, with the brain and nerves, have a big and complicated job of moving your repaired joint, and moving your whole body. They learn as they go, adapting to the opportunity of a newly repaired joint, getting better at animating your body. Of course, you need to move, move in new and different ways, and move increasingly strongly to make the most of this stage of healing. Experts, like physical therapists, can analyze your unique needs and create prioritized strategies that you might never think of, and they can hopefully push you along more safely.
In summary, regrowing new repair tissue to replace tissue that is torn and worn is the job of the PRP Stem Cell Joint Repair process that we usually continue for plus or minus 6 months. Such replacement of damaged joint tissue does not just fancifully continue into the future. However, there are two other stages of healing, valuable processes, that will continue for another year or more after. Even after you are done with our course of injections, you can continue to improve.
In these newsletters, after a little medical message like the above, I share some of the mellow music you would hear at our office. Instead, this time, how about an inspirational music video!
My own personal process of calming my mind includes looking for inspirational beauty in the world around me. Below are some of my photos.
Dr. Jonas Skardis
