Some breaks the bone can’t heal on its own, even with a cast! New advances in regenerative medicine can help the body heal itself in these cases. With the help of regenerative medicine, healing can happen faster, so that a broken bone will heal in less time:  three weeks instead of six!

In our bone marrow, inside all of us, there are young cells called stem cells that make new bone. Doctors can remove a small number of these, take them to the lab to grow more of them, then put them back into the broken bone. The young cells can help grow new bone much more quickly than if the bone healed on its own.

Doctors are continuing to study new ways of supplying extra cells to the body to speed up the healing process. Sometimes, when a break is severe, the gap between the two pieces of broken bone is so wide that no blood vessels span the distance. Blood vessels are needed to feed the new cells, so when this happens, the body can’t heal on its own! So doctors place an insert in the gap that feels like cartilage - a scaffold - which provides support for new blood vessels to grow into. Then, stem cells are placed near the structure. The scaffold is eventually replaced with strong new bone. 

Remember!

Regenerative medicine helps healing happen faster by adding young cells, also called stem cells, from the bone marrow.

Regenerative medicine is a new field in science that focuses on helping you heal faster. With the help of regenerative medicine, your body will be able to fix a broken bone in three weeks instead of six.

To help speed up the natural process of bone renovation and re-growth, doctors are studying ways of supplying extra cells to the body. Doctors can harvest young cells from the bone marrow of the patient. These young cells - stem cells - divide quickly and have the potential to become brain, blood, bone, or heart cells. In the lab, growth factors are added to the young cells to help them grow into bone tissue and multiply. Finally, these young cells are injected back into the patient's broken bone. The young cells grow new bone much more quickly than if the bone healed on its own.

Regenerative medicine can also help heal fractures that have produced a wide gap between two fragments of bone. If the gap is too wide for capillaries to span, the new tissue can't survive since it can't be reached by oxygen and nutrients. Doctors place a support structure that mimics the feel of cartilage - a scaffold -  in the gap, which provides support for new blood vessels to grow into. Then, stem cells are placed near the structure. The scaffold is eventually replaced with strong new bone.

How can regenerative medicine help me?
Regenerative medicine helps healing happen faster by using young cells, also called stem cells, from the bone marrow.

Remember!

Regenerative medicine helps healing happen faster by adding young cells, also called stem cells, from the bone marrow.