Photo: Red Bull
Surgeons perform more than 600,000 knee replacements every year in the US, and with obesity and inactivity on the rise, this number is expected to skyrocket to three million by 2030. While the procedure often allows people to return to the activities they enjoy and can increase income by allowing debilitated patients to return to work, there are also significant costs involved – around $20,000 for the surgery, physical therapy and associated care.
What if there was a better way? Well, maybe there is. Advances in stem cell treatment pioneered in Melbourne enable specialists to harvest stem cells. According to a report by Sydney’s Channel 7 News, half of the 100 trial participants reported a 75 percent decrease in pain. In around four weeks, the cells multiply until they number a couple of hundred million, and doctors then inject them into the damaged knee to encourage new cartilage growth.
The technique is initially being used on knees, hips and ankles, but the Melbourne Stem Cell Centre intend to expand it to people struggling with lower back and multiple sclerosis sufferers. The treatment currently costs around $8,000 Australian dollars (approximately $5,970) but the cost is expected to decrease as it becomes more widespread. Stem cell-based therapies such as Regenexx are also being used in the US to treat sufferers of ACL and other knee ligament tears, as well as arthritis, osteoporosis and other degenerative conditions, at facilities such as Denver-based Centeno Schultz Clinic.
Despite the promise of stem cell-focused treatments, athletes in any sport should take three preventative steps to ensure they don’t get to the stage of needing such medical intervention:
— The first key is finding coaches who teach proper mechanics that can be implemented within sustainable, non-damaging movement patterns. If you’re experiencing pain after exercise, that’s usually because you’re not moving correctly. A lot of so-called “repetitive strain” ailments can be alleviated by re-assessing how you’re moving and fixing positional errors. Up to 98 percent of injuries – with the other 2 percent being catastrophic anomalies sustained in a skiing crash, surfing wipeout or at the hands of a 300 pound linebacker – can be prevented with correct mechanics.
— Another important factor is achieving full range of motion so that you can get into these positions and maintain integrity under load (whether that’s weight, speed, change of direction, etc). If you can’t achieve full end range, you will start to make positional compromises that make imbalances worse and over-stress soft tissues and joints alike. That’s why the NFL Combine uses Gray Cook’s Functional Movement Screen to assess how well draft prospects move, or not, as a predictor of long term injury.
— Use full-body, compound strength training exercises such as squats and deadlifts to strengthen the structures around the knee.
–Start cultivating a daily soft tissue practice to remove any restrictions. For the knee, try these five mobilizations.
