Home › Blog › Helping a Hiker’s Knee without Stem Cells

Can you fix a hiker’s knee without stem cells?  LV is a 60 year old active hiker who experienced knee pain in the summer of 2011 after a backpacking trip for 3 days. She tried two cortisone injections and one round of hyaluronic acid, all with no help. Dr. Hanson found laxity in the ACL and MCL, an aggravated patellar tendon, and a medial meniscus tear. Rather than pursue stem cell injections, it was thought that just tightening the lax ligaments with injections (prolotherapy) would help. After three injections (March, April, May 2012), here’s her personal report:

“Dear Dr. Hanson,

30 miles 5200 feet in elevation gain 30 pound pack three days on the Continental Divide Trail at elevations up to 12,500 feet.  It’s hard to believe that six months ago before I walked into your office I couldn’t walk a mile around my block without turning back because of the pain and couldn’t sleep through the night.  I never thought I would ever be able do anything like this again.

Thanks so much for giving me my life back!”

Obviously, not every hiker’s knee nor Prolotherapy patient will be able to hike for 30 miles with a 30 pound backpack at up to 12,500 feet…LV is amazing!

NOTE: Prolotherapy is a medical procedure and like all medical procedures has a success and failure rate.  Not all Prolotherapy patients can expect this same result.

Chris Centeno, MD is a specialist in regenerative medicine and the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. Centeno pioneered orthopedic stem cell procedures in 2005 and is responsible for a large amount of the published research on stem cell use for orthopedic applications. View Profile