Stem cell therapy is rapidly becoming a popular consumer choice for treatment of a number of disorders and ailments. Stem cells, the body’s repair cells, have long been believed to hold the key to repairing what goes wrong with the body in degenerative disorders like multiple sclerosis, osteoarthritis and other conditions. All of these conditions have a similar characteristic – their major symptoms are caused by the deterioration or damage to the cells of certain organs or tissues. Unexpected breakthroughs in stem cell research have accelerated the progress of many stem cell treatments, making them available to people who seek relief from joint pain, muscle tears, diabetic neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, COPD and even coronary artery and peripheral artery disease. If you’re considering stem cell therapy, this is the kind of patient experience you can expect.
Consultation
The first step in accessing stem cell therapy is a consultation with a doctor who provides stem cell treatments. Your preliminary medical history will probably be taken by a trained technician who can help you understand the process, find the right doctor and put you in touch with the resources you need to access the care that will make a difference in your life.
In many cases, the initial consultation and tests can be performed by your own doctor or by a clinic in your city. The test results will be forwarded to the facility that will be providing the stem cell treatment. In other cases, all of the tests will be performed at the stem cell treatment facility.
Arrival
Many people travel to another city or another country for stem cell treatments because their own cities have no facilities offering the treatments. If you are coming in from out of town, you will be met at the airport by the staff from the stem cell center and transported either to your hotel or to the facility.
Lodging
Depending on the facility you choose and the procedure you will be having, you may stay in a hospital. It is more common, however, for patients to stay at a hotel and have their procedures on an outpatient basis. If you will not be staying in the hospital, your lodgings will not be included in the cost of the procedure. Many networks that provide stem cell treatments to international visitors, however, often have arrangements to offer special prices to those in town for therapy at their facilities.
Harvesting
The first part of the treatment is the harvesting of stem cells. Doctors who perform autologous stem cell treatments generally prefer adipose stem cells – stem cells that are stored in your body’s fat tissues. These will be removed via liposuction using a special process that guarantees a sanitary transfer.
Processing
While you rest comfortably in a recovery room, your fat cells will be getting a workout in the lab. Specially trained lab technicians use a proprietary process to extract stem cells from the fat and isolate growth and healing factors from your blood. The stem cells will be enriched with the growth and healing factors to activate them and get them to work immediately.
Infusion
Your doctor will infuse you with the harvested stem cells. The exact method of infusion will depend upon the procedure.
The entire process takes about 4 hours and is usually completed on the same day.
After the Treatment
You will be returned to your hotel room and transported to the airport to catch your flight home and continue on with your life. There is no “typical” patient experience to judge speed of recovery. Some patients experience immediate relief. The vast majority – more than 70% — see significant improvement in their condition within 3 to 6 months of their stem cell treatment. A small percentage requires a second stem cell treatment to complete the healing process.
Learn more about the stem cell therapy patient experience from our certified professionals.