Tendon and ligament injuries are one of the most common orthopedic conditions resulting from overuse, sports injuries, or aging.  

Ligaments and tendons are body tissues that are essential to our movement. Ligaments are fibrous connective tissue that connect bones to bones and serve to hold structures together, while tendons are fibrous connective tissue that attach muscles to bone or other body structures.  

Ligament injuries and tendon injuries can generally fall into two categories – sprains or strains. A sprain is a stretch or tear in a ligament, while a strain is a stretch or tear in a muscle or a tendon.  

Causes and Symptoms

Sprains typically occur when a person falls, twists or is hit in a particular way that causes the body to move from its normal position. Sprained ankles are the most common form of sprain that occurs, while wrist and thumb sprains are also common. Strains are considered an overuse injury – when a person makes the same motion over and over again for a prolonged period of time, there is an increased risk for a tendon strain. Both ligament and tendon injuries are most common in athletes.

• Swelling
• Tenderness
• Bruising
• Pain
• Inability to bear weight on the affected are, if applicable
• Discoloration of the skin around the injury site
• Stiffness

Power of Stem Cells

Stem cells are unspecialized body cells that can be found in all human beings. These cells, when turned into specialized cells, can possess anti-inflammatory and regenerative abilities that help repair damaged and inflamed tendons and ligaments. The use of stem cells for tendon repair has the shortest recovery time as compared to other traditional approaches and does not require surgery.

Stem cells have been shown and proven to not only regrow ligaments but they have been also helpful in improving blood flow and nerve function to relieve pain.

There are few treatment options for patients who sustain nerve damage from orthopedic injuries. Recovery from peripheral nerve injury is generally poor because of the low regeneration rate of axons and intra- and extra neural scar tissue development. MSCs can be transplanted into denervated muscles, avoiding the predictable sequelae of denervation. Specifically by the prevention of atrophy and by leaving the tissue more reinnervation-receptive over extended periods. 

We obtained promising results following MSC implantation into peripheral nerve injuries—not just in acute injuries but also in chronically denervated lesions. For patients who have lost neural function from orthopedic injuries, MSCs can provide a promising treatment alternative.