Home › Blog › Thumb Surgery Alternative: Thumb Surgery Recovery vs. an Injection for Arthritis

How does the thumb surgery alternative of an injection of super concentrated platelets into the thumb joint compare with thumb surgery recovery? For starters, the thumb surgery alternative involves an injection which has minimal recovery time while thumb surgery recovery takes months. CN is a 77 year old man with a long history of left thumb pain after a fall. He was first evaluated by our clinic in September of 2010. He was treated with SCP (Super Concentrated Platelets) with three injections from September 2010 through March of 2011. His CMC joint was injected as well as the surrounding ligaments, all with high accuracy using ultrasound guidance of all injections. Now at 22 months out from his last injection he reports 90% improvement. The upshot? Thumb surgery for CMC arthritis is a big operation, one where usually a tendon is taken from the forearm and coiled up and used as a substitute for cartilage in the joint. So what’s easier, a big surgery or an injection of your own platelets with a tiny needle?

NOTE: Regenexx-SCP is a medical procedure and like all medical procedures has a success and failure rate.  A 90% improvement is not neccessarily the result that every patient will experience.

Learn More About Regenexx^® Procedures

Request a digital booklet and more information to learn about alternatives to orthopedic surgery and the Regenexx patient experience.

Your Email *

Include the weekly newsletter. It's free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Submit

We do not sell, or share your information to third party vendors. By submitting the form you agree that you've read and consent to our Privacy Policy.

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