Low Back Pain, Arthritis, and Stem Cell Therapy
Low back pain has many causes. Low back pain is second only to the common cold in frequency of doctor visits.
Low back pain is often chronic. It may have periods of waxing and waning, or be fairly constant in nature.
Causes of Low Back Pain may include:
- Disc annular tears
- Disc herniations
- Facet joint dysfunction
- Degenerative arthritis
- Spinal stenosis
- Fractures
- Muscle pain
Degenerative back arthritis also known as degenerative spondylosis, is actually a spectrum of a disease process. Spinal spondylosis (arthritis), may begin with trauma or be gradual with the aging process. It is very common, where greater than 50% of adults over 65 with have some form of degenerative arthritis.
The spectrum of degenerative arthritis, may be viewed as a continuum anywhere from the onset of disc micro-trauma to advanced spinal stenosis.
As degenerative arthritis occurs in low back pain, there is an inflammatory response occurring at the local level. This inflammatory response involves local signals from inflammatory mediators which accelerates the breakdown of joint tissue resulting in degenerative osteoarthritis.
Stem cell therapy and other Regenerative Medicine procedures have been used to treat spinal arthritis. These include biologic agents delivered with scaffolds at surgical sites, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and Stem Cell Therapy.
The application of Regenerative Medicine procedures to degenerative spinal arthritis may continue to progress as more innovative technology is incorporated.
