PRP and/or stem cell for meniscus and ACL?

I had PRP and in my opinion not sure that I'd do it again.

Get the actual surgery but use a donor or your hamstring graft.

DO NOT LET THEM TAKE YOUR PATELLAR TENDON

gooneymferlife wrote:

I know knee injuries are common in moto, and unfortunately I have fallen victim to a second meniscus injury to a knee that already had a previous acl/meniscus tear 3 yrs ago. I avoided surgery the first time around by toughing it out and id like to do it again. I have heard from a few people that there are platelet rich plasma, and stem cell treatments available that produce similar results long term as actual surgery. Anybody out there have any experience with this?

I know people who are really hoping for the stem cell ‘treatment’ to work, but indications are that it’s not there yet. There’s a clinic in Vegas that claims to use stem cells from your fat to rebuild meniscus, etc. But as of now, adult stem cells (like from fatty tissue) can only replicate as the same tissue that they originated from so their claims are suspect. I don’t doubt that they have “testimonials” from people who either hate to admit that they threw $5K down the toilet or maybe feel something of a placebo effect.

All medical procedures are different for different people. You should go with the regular stuff first. Rest it then do some focused PT. Maybe synvisc will help. It's not a repair but can get down the road a little further without surgery.
I had meniscus surgery, PT, Synvisc and have no problems with my left knee. My right knee was too far gone and ended up replaced. There are some studies out that show positive results. The was a study out of The Mayo clinic FSU that the felt that stem cells circulate and can attach to other injured areas and help there. I thinks it's all still to soon to know. I am going to look into it for my "good" knee to see if I can put off replacing it all down the road.

I had my ACL replaced with my patella, works better than new.

Here is a very interesting video from Joe Rogan and a stem cell Doctor. Embryonic are the ones that work and you can only get them legally in Panama.
My Attorney retired there and he said he has 2 Doctors that live in his building that needed surgery. The male a knee rebuilt and his wife had tennis elbow so bad she could no longer play. $3500 later both are active again and pain free.

I was already thinking about it until I saw this video w/ Mel Gibson. Now for sure I am going to try it instead of a knee surgery.

I think the rogan podcast dr claimed that embryonic were no good and mosinkamole (spelling) were the ones of choice

The podcast is interesting to say the least, there is a spinal chord injured rider locally who is going down to give it a go...so that will be someone i know firsthand and can see what he says and feels

SeaClassExpert wrote:

I had PRP and in my opinion not sure that I'd do it again.

Get the actual surgery but use a donor or your hamstring graft.

DO NOT LET THEM TAKE YOUR PATELLAR TENDON

Why no patellar graft?

Rotaholic wrote:

I had my ACL replaced with my patella, works better than new.

Ya. I’m just about at 15 weeks. It’s not perfect yet. But I’m on my feet all day with the work. Doing squats. Box jumps. Starting to jog. Had full extension and fkexion and was walking rather quickly. Pedaled a Bike ( appt 130 degrees) like 2 weeks after starting PT. Maybe sooner. Gonna ride in like 5 more weeks

I am in slightly differently circumstances but a donor tendon for my acl was great. I had surgery on a Thursday and was actually back working on the following Monday. This was definitely not the recommendation as I’m on my feet all day but compared to my previous surgery on the same knee for miniscus pcl and mcl it was a walk in the park.

gooneymferlife wrote:

I know knee injuries are common in moto, and unfortunately I have fallen victim to a second meniscus injury to a knee that already had a previous acl/meniscus tear 3 yrs ago. I avoided surgery the first time around by toughing it out and id like to do it again. I have heard from a few people that there are platelet rich plasma, and stem cell treatments available that produce similar results long term as actual surgery. Anybody out there have any experience with this?

APLMAN99 wrote:

I know people who are really hoping for the stem cell ‘treatment’ to work, but indications are that it’s not there yet. There’s a clinic in Vegas that claims to use stem cells from your fat to rebuild meniscus, etc. But as of now, adult stem cells (like from fatty tissue) can only replicate as the same tissue that they originated from so their claims are suspect. I don’t doubt that they have “testimonials” from people who either hate to admit that they threw $5K down the toilet or maybe feel something of a placebo effect.

Not to mention any place that has a billboard at the Airport advertising their “clinic” is probably a good indicator it’s a scam.

I have had an ACL replacement using both the hamstring and Patella. I HIGHLY recommend having the cadaver graft for the simple reason you are only rehabbing ONE thing, being the actually ACL. I had alot of issues with the rehab of my hamstring and kneeling on my other knee is painful to this day. The hamstring graft also tore so I am back at square one with needing an ACL.

munsch121 wrote:

I have had an ACL replacement using both the hamstring and Patella. I HIGHLY recommend having the cadaver graft for the simple reason you are only rehabbing ONE thing, being the actually ACL. I had alot of issues with the rehab of my hamstring and kneeling on my other knee is painful to this day. The hamstring graft also tore so I am back at square one with needing an ACL.

Cadaver grafts are the weakest. About 75% of the native graft. Hamstring is second best. Patella is the strongest, which is why we encourage young athletes to go that direction. Is rehab harder? Sure is, but I’ll suffer s little linger to have a better graft....

munsch121 wrote:

I have had an ACL replacement using both the hamstring and Patella. I HIGHLY recommend having the cadaver graft for the simple reason you are only rehabbing ONE thing, being the actually ACL. I had alot of issues with the rehab of my hamstring and kneeling on my other knee is painful to this day. The hamstring graft also tore so I am back at square one with needing an ACL.

MDMCG wrote:

Cadaver grafts are the weakest. About 75% of the native graft. Hamstring is second best. Patella is the strongest, which is why we encourage young athletes to go that direction. Is rehab harder? Sure is, but I’ll suffer s little linger to have a better graft....

I Just finished the first 3 months of rehab with the patella graft option. I think it’s relative. The hardest part was laying there while he rubbed the area with his stainless steel torture device to break up the scar tissue beneath. The rest is business. I’m prob 85 or 90 percent now at 15 weeks. Honestly, For Day to Day life, I was pretty good, pretty quick can’t complaint at all.

Your title says meniscus and ACL, but your post only says you have another torn meniscus. Is the previous ACL still an issue too?

I did the stem cell treatment just after having microfracture surgery to help re-grow cartilage in my left knee. Unknown if it helped or not, but was super expensive. They used the fat cell method. Mesenchymal might indeed be the way to go, but might not be easy to get.

If all you have is a slightly torn meniscus, the arthroscopic surgery is really quick and easy to recover from. If you're really opposed to surgery, the PRP is an option. Ask the Dr you're talking to if they also do Prolozone injections. It's an injection of various things, in addition to ozone gas, which delivers healing oxygen right to the areas that need it. One of the big reasons ligaments and cartilage don't heal very well or slowly is that they typically have a poor blood supply. Unfortunately they have a great nerve supply so we feel the pain just fine!! The prolozone injections aren't very expensive - at least compared to stem cells. About $100 each, and maybe 7-8 injections. The one time stem cell shot cost me $8K!!!!

There's a chance the PRP/Prolozone combo could help your ACL if it's still an issue - it just depends on how severe the damage is. I have heard good stories about tissue regeneration with th PRP/Prolozone. I'm doing the prolozone now as sort of a preventative measure - get my knee at healthy as possible to minimize the chances of having knee replacement in the future, which really should be a last option. Of course if you have a very badly torn ACL, you're gonna need surgery most likely