You’ve probably heard of stem cell therapy, right? Though it hasn’t been quite the firestorm of controversy in recent years that it was a decade or so ago, the issues raised during that time are definitely as important as they ever were and as far from being resolved.

But in the midst of all that controversy, it’s sometimes hard to know what’s true about stem cell therapy. Is it really the medical miracle that a lot of people have suggested over the years? And if so, could it finally promise a cure for fibromyalgia?

Well, while the results of stem cell research have been extremely promising for a lot of different diseases, the truth is that when it comes to fibromyalgia, you should be very cautious of anyone who promises they can treat your condition with this type of therapy. Here’s why.

Would Stem Cell Therapy Work For Fibromyalgia?

For starters, let’s ask the question of what exactly stem cell therapy is and whether it could actually work as a cure for fibromyalgia. Put simply, it is the practice of using human stem cells to cure the cellular damage from a number of diseases.

When a human embryo is first developing, every new cell it creates is eventually assigned a purpose by your body. Some of those cells become skin cells, some brain cells, and others go into things like your heart or lungs or other vital organs. Once a cell has become part of specific tissue like that, it can never change. A brain cell will always be a brain cell. But before they become cells for a specific tissue, those cells start as stem cells, which can become anything.

Stem cell therapy takes advantage of this fact and inserts stem cells into damaged tissue, allowing the cells to help repair the damage. This kind of treatment is promising for things like traumatic brain injury and any condition that leads to the death of healthy cells.

But as you probably know, the destruction of healthy cells is not really a problem when it comes to fibromyalgia. While fibromyalgia results in extreme pain for many people, the tissue and nerves themselves are not actually being damaged, which makes it a questionable proposition as to whether it could help.

Can You Get Stem Cell Therapy For Fibromyalgia?

But even if it were theoretically possible for fibromyalgia patients to benefit from this type of therapy, so far no one has developed an effective, practical therapy for fibromyalgia. No one has managed to put theory into practice in a way that is safe and proven to be effective.

But if you’ve spent time researching all the different fibromyalgia treatments out there, you’ve probably seen a few ads for people who promise stem cell therapy for your fibromyalgia. And they probably have dozens of patient testimonials promising that the therapy works. So what gives?

Well, as always, there are plenty of people out there who are willing to prey on people who are already suffering. These stem cell therapies are scams in many cases and simply ineffective treatments in others. Here’s how it usually works, so you can know what to look out for:

To begin with, stem cell therapy is heavily regulated in many countries. That means that people who want to have these kinds of procedures done have to go overseas. If a procedure isn’t available in your country but is in a country with less stringent health regulations that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s dangerous or a scam, but it’s a sign that you should be cautious all the same.

So once you arrive in this country where you’re getting the procedure done, they’ll usually take you in for a series of injections. Depending on the operation they might offer rehabilitation therapy, or something similar, and usually, they’ll want to give you multiple rounds of injections. After that, they will try to upsell you more procedures or they’ll tell you that it will require a few weeks or more rounds of injections in order to be effective.

Often the price tag for these procedures can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. And many people desperate for relief have subjected themselves to these procedures and spent thousands only to find out that they’re completely ineffective. And in the worst cases, these unregulated injections are downright dangerous.

So if anyone ever suggests that they have a sure-fire cure for fibromyalgia in the form of stem cell therapy, you should be extremely skeptical. Remember that there is no currently known effective form of this type of therapy for fibromyalgia. Anything they would be able to give you would be experimental at best and dangerous at worst.

So tell us, do you know anything about stem cell therapy for fibromyalgia? Have you ever received one of these treatments? Tell us in the comments.