Stem Cell Therapy and PRP

[make-it-stop]

Has anyone tried Stem Cell Therapy or PRP for their chronic pelvic pain? A friend of mine emailed me this link: https://r3stemcell.com/conditions/pelvic-pain/
and it talks about how stem cell therapy can repair damaged tissue and also secrete anti-inflammatory factors. This is the first time I've heard of stem cells being used for chronic pain and was wondering if others on this board had heard about it or tried it. The webpage also mentions PRP therapy, which I guess gets the same result (promotes tissue healing and attracts stem cells) but by concentrating the patient's blood sample.

[nyt]

Dr. Hibner when he did my pudendal surgery used PRP but I do not know if he is still using PRP or not. As far as pudendal patients I think Dr. Hibner was the only one using it and as far as I know he never did any research such as a control group without PRP compared to a group with PRP to really know if it made a difference in patient outcomes or not. I don't know if Dr. Castellonos, who trained with Dr. Hibner is using it or not. It's been a couple of years since I read any of the published literature and the results were mixed. I know many athletes use it for injury repair.

Stem cell therapy is really still in the infancy. Dr. Hibner did a few patients where they injected amniotic fluid (AF) to see if they could regenerate the nerve because the company he used had some really impressive results using AF on wound healing. I do not know whether he is still doing anything with AF or not.

Below is a thread about adipose tissue stem cells and the amniotic fluid.

http://www.pudendalhope.info/forum/view ... uid#p47465

If you type in the search box in the top right "stem cell" or "amniotic fluid" you will find several discussions on this topic.

[make-it-stop]

Thank you. Looks like there are a few doctors' websites I've come across that advertise stem cell and PRP for "chronic pelvic pain." I just read an article by a professor of cell biology from UC Davis who is wary of these clinics doing a procedure for thousands of dollars that hasn't been proven. But still...there seems to be a high bar for what the FDA and the healthcare industry considers "proven." I will do more research and look for the other threads.

[wondergirlfriday]

Hello, I am new to posting but here goes. I just had the stem cell injections June 15, 2017. Previously, I was positively diagnosed with PN with a successful nerve block done vaginally in the doctor's office. Prior to that, I had Botox injections, which didn't seem to make a noticeable improvement. I have been using Amitriptyline/Baclofen/Gabapentin suppositories up to 3 times per day, and lidocaine jelly, and smashed valium mixed with aquaphor. Onset of my symptoms was 6 weeks after hysterectomy in July 2014.

The stem cell injections were the same procedure as the nerve blocks. Dr. Jessica Ritch of Florida Center for Urogynecology is one of my doctors there. Dr. Jennifer Pollack and Dr. Rivka Friedman, of the same office, have also worked on me. I highly recommend all of them. I waited 4 months for my initial appointment, and I drive two hours to get there. They are in high demand because they are so good.

Dr. Ritch studied with an associate of hers from Tennessee who has treated PN patients with success using the amniotic stem cell treatment. It is in a powder form in a small glass vial, to which she added a tiny bit of lidocaine to dissolve it. She said it would take at least 5 weeks for me to see any noticeable difference, but I would like to update this periodically to let others know how the progress is coming along.

My best wishes for everyone here. I know your pain. Don't give up hope.

[nyt]

Do you know what company they used for their stem cells? Did insurance cover it?

Please keep us posted. I'm quite curious how this goes for you.