# Start with the simplest joint care that may help *Joint Regeneration Tempe | Compare Your Choices* > joint regeneration tempe choices explained by what happens, what recovery takes, and what you need to ask. Try the least demanding care first. Steady exercise and support from a brace or cane may ease soreness. Medicine rubbed on the skin may help too. These choices cost less and don't require a procedure. If they aren't enough, compare what each clinic visit would involve before you pay. ## Exercise, skin medicine, and walking aids take less effort Exercise takes regular work, but it can build strength around the joint. Walking may feel steadier with a cane or brace. Anti-inflammatory gel is medicine rubbed on the skin over the sore area. Ask your doctor whether it's safe with your other medicines. A steroid shot may ease soreness for a short time. Another shot puts a gel called hyaluronic acid into the joint. Results aren't the same for every joint or person. Repeated steroid shots also carry risks, so ask how often they'd be used. ## PRP uses blood drawn, spun, and put into the joint PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma. Staff draw your blood and spin it to collect platelets. They're tiny pieces in blood that form clots. Staff put that portion into the sore joint. Concentrated PRP holds a larger share of those platelets. Bone marrow care takes more from you. For this care, staff draw marrow from your pelvis, spin it to collect certain cells, place those cells into the joint, and explain how the removal area may feel afterward. Fat-based care starts with liposuction to remove fat. They'll process the fat before placing part of it in the joint. Ask how much blood, marrow, or fat they'll take. After the exam, QC Kinetix can offer these regenerative treatments. The medical provider checks your health and joint. They'll explain the cost, time at the clinic, and recovery. You can leave without saying yes. ## Count relief only when daily life gets easier Some people feel less sore after a joint procedure. Others don't gain enough relief to justify the cost. Pick a task you stopped doing, such as stairs or a longer walk. Later, see whether that exact task feels easier. A scan can't settle that question. Ask when relief might start, then ask when it often fades. Find out how many later visits you'll need. Check whether you'll exercise at home or return for more care. If surgery has come up, compare these choices with knee or hip surgery alternatives. A new joint can't be promised. ## Sources 1. A four-arm, multicentre, single-blind phase 2/3 randomized trial of 480 knee OA patients (KL II-IV) compared autologous bone marrow aspirate concentrate, autologous adipose stromal vascular fraction and allogeneic umbilical-cord-tissue mesenchymal stromal cells against a corticosteroid injection control. At 12 months NONE of the three orthobiologic injections was superior to another, or to the corticosteroid control, and none of the four groups showed a significant change in MRI osteoarthritis score from baseline. No procedure-related serious adverse events occurred. Mautner K, et al. — [Cell-based versus corticosteroid injections for knee pain in osteoarthritis: a randomized phase 3 trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37919438/). *Nature medicine*, 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-023-02632-w. 2. A randomized trial of 90 patients with KL grade 1-3 knee OA found bone marrow aspirate concentrate - the product most often sold as a 'stem cell injection' - was EQUIVALENT to, not better than, PRP through 24 months, with no statistically significant IKDC or WOMAC difference at any time point. Both arms improved from baseline and plateaued at 3 months. Anz AW, et al. — [Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate Is Equivalent to Platelet-Rich Plasma for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis at 2 Years: A Prospective Randomized Trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35289231/). *The American journal of sports medicine*, 2022. DOI: 10.1177/03635465211072554. 3. A Level-1 systematic review of 8 randomized trials (937 patients) of bone marrow aspirate concentrate for knee OA found BMAC improved clinical scores versus baseline from one month, and beat hyaluronic acid on pain at 6 and 12 months with statistical significance - but those differences DID NOT EXCEED the minimal clinically important difference, and against other injections no significant difference appeared at all. Statistically detectable is not the same as noticeable. Han JH, et al. — [Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate Injections for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39640186/). *Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine*, 2024. DOI: 10.1177/23259671241296555. 4. A meta-analysis of 9 Level-1 trials (671 patients) of adipose stromal vascular fraction and adipose-derived MSC injections for knee OA found SVF superior to saline or hyaluronic acid on pain and function at 3, 6 and 12 months - but INFERIOR to corticosteroid at 3 months, no different at 6, and only comparable or slightly superior at 12. Adipose-derived MSCs beat saline and conservative care but showed no significant difference versus HA. No serious adverse events were attributed to the injections themselves, though complications associated with the LIPOSUCTION step were observed. Han JH, et al. — [Intra-articular Stromal Vascular Fraction and Mesenchymal Stem Cell Injections Show Variable Efficacy and Higher Potential Complications Compared to Corticosteroid and Hyaluronic Acid in Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39914607/). *Arthroscopy : the journal of arthroscopic & related surgery : official publication of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and the International Arthroscopy Association*, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.arthro.2025.01.050. 5. The strongest recent POSITIVE signal: a meta-analysis of 10 RCTs (818 patients, KL I-III) found intra-articular MSC injection beat hyaluronic acid at 12 months on WOMAC total (MD -10.22), VAS (MD -1.31) and on the MRI Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (MD -26.01), all reaching the minimal clinically important difference, with no significant difference in adverse events. Recorded here at full weight: this result and the negative RESTORE and Mautner trials are both in the literature, and an honest page reports both. Jin WS, et al. — [Mesenchymal Stem Cells Injection Is More Effective Than Hyaluronic Acid Injection in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis With Similar Safety: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39154667/). *Arthroscopy : the journal of arthroscopic & related surgery : official publication of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and the International Arthroscopy Association*, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.arthro.2024.07.027. 6. The evidence overview underpinning the 2020 EULAR recommendations on intra-articular therapies pooled 29 quality-appraised systematic reviews. Hyaluronic acid showed a small effect on pain and function in KNEE OA but not in hip OA or shoulder capsulitis; intra-articular glucocorticoid showed small effects in knee OA and on function in hip OA and shoulder capsulitis; PRP showed benefit in knee OA but NOT in hip OA, and mesenchymal stem cells behaved similarly. Overall conclusion: most intra-articular therapies exert SMALL effects and are well tolerated. Rodriguez-García SC, et al. — [Efficacy and safety of intra-articular therapies in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases: an overview of systematic reviews.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34103406/). *RMD open*, 2021. DOI: 10.1136/rmdopen-2021-001658. 7. In a 2-year RCT, intra-articular triamcinolone given every 12 weeks for knee OA produced significantly GREATER cartilage volume loss than saline, with no significant pain benefit. The most widely used joint injection in medicine is itself associated with structural harm on repeat dosing - relevant context when a clinic frames a biologic as 'the alternative to steroid shots'. McAlindon TE, et al. — [Effect of Intra-articular Triamcinolone vs Saline on Knee Cartilage Volume and Pain in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28510679/). *JAMA*, 2017. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2017.5283. 8. A Mayo Clinic single-blind placebo-controlled trial used each patient as their own control: 25 patients with BILATERAL knee OA received bone marrow aspirate concentrate in one knee and saline in the other. Pain fell significantly in BOTH knees at 1 week, 3 months and 6 months - and the relief, described by the authors as dramatic, did NOT differ significantly between the BMAC knee and the saline knee. No serious adverse events occurred. Shapiro SA, et al. — [A Prospective, Single-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate for Knee Osteoarthritis.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27566242/). *The American journal of sports medicine*, 2017. DOI: 10.1177/0363546516662455. 9. A randomized trial of 50 completed patients (mean age 63) compared ultrasound-guided 25% dextrose prolotherapy with intra-articular normal saline for knee OA. BOTH groups improved significantly in pain, function and knee extension at every follow-up (p<0.001), and prolotherapy was neither statistically nor clinically superior to saline. Adverse events were limited to injection-site pain and bruising resolving by week 4. Teymouri A, et al. — [Comparison of the efficacy of ultrasound-guided dextrose 25% hypertonic prolotherapy and intra-articular normal saline injection on pain, functional limitation, and range of motion in patients with knee osteoarthritis; a randomized controlled trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40165187/). *BMC musculoskeletal disorders*, 2025. DOI: 10.1186/s12891-025-08580-5. 10. A phase II multicentre RCT randomized 60 knee OA patients to three weekly PRGF injections or 100 million CULTURE-EXPANDED autologous bone marrow MSCs plus PRGF. VAS pain improved significantly in the cell arm (5.3 to 3.5, p=0.01) but not in the PRGF-only arm (5.0 to 4.5, p=0.389) at 12 months, with no adverse effects reported - a positive signal at small scale, in an unblinded active-control design, using culture-expanded cells that a same-day US clinic cannot legally provide without an IND. Lamo-Espinosa JM, et al. — [Phase II multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial on the efficacy of intra-articular injection of autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells with platelet rich plasma for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32948200/). *Journal of translational medicine*, 2020. DOI: 10.1186/s12967-020-02530-6. 11. A randomized trial in the New England Journal of Medicine compared physical therapy against intra-articular glucocorticoid injection for knee osteoarthritis and found physical therapy produced better WOMAC outcomes at one year. When a clinic offers an injection, the comparator that matters is not 'nothing' - it is a course of supervised exercise. Deyle GD, et al. — [Physical Therapy versus Glucocorticoid Injection for Osteoarthritis of the Knee.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32268027/). *The New England journal of medicine*, 2020. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1905877. ## Get clear answers before choosing joint care QC Kinetix can discuss regenerative treatment options, meaning procedures using a part of your blood or marrow. The clinic draws it, spins it to gather a chosen part, then puts that part into the joint. Take your medicine list and say which tasks hurt. A medical provider can examine the joint and explain whether other care belongs first. Call (602) 837-PAIN. Book a free consultation: --- Straight answers for an aching joint. Plain answers about sore joints, home care, exams, and QC Kinetix procedures using your blood or marrow. Plain Tempe help for sore joints, home care, exams, and choices without surgery. This site is operated by the owners of the QC Kinetix Phoenix-area clinics, including the Chandler and Scottsdale locations these pages recommend. Copyright 2026 Tempe Joint Ledger. General education only, not personal medical advice.