Shoulder rotator cuff tears and elbow tendons that cause tennis and golfer’s elbow are often caused by tendon degeneration. In adults over 40 years old, tendons don’t heal at local regeneration is poor without help. PRP (platelet rich plasma) is an excellent treatment producing healing of the degenerated tendon fibers including those that may may include tiny tears. Unfortunately partial thickness tears of more than 1-2 mm do not do well as the PRP is liquid and flows out of the tear.
Treatment with fat based stem cells can include enough fat cells in a semisolid state to remain in even large tears and produce long term healing. Follow up ultrasound 6-9 months later shows near complete healing of treated tendon tears. The same is not true for liquid stem cells harvested from bone marrow. Although adipose (fat) derived stem cells are an excellent treatment at any age, the number of stem cells remains fairly stable as we age compared to those in bone marrow that decrease significantly with age. Thus adipose (fat) derived stem cells the best treatment for us as we age and have the advantage of being able to remain in tendon tears long enough for healing.