Orthopaedics · regenerative direction
Treatment for knee osteoarthritis in China (Boao Lecheng)
Worn cartilage does not repair itself, and painkillers do not stop the process. In the Boao Lecheng cluster, knee osteoarthritis is approached regeneratively — working with the joint tissue, not only with the symptom. And plainly: this is not possible at every stage. It all begins with precise diagnostics.
About the condition
Knee osteoarthritis: what happens in the joint
Knee osteoarthritis (gonarthrosis) is the most common joint disease. The cartilage covering the joint surfaces gradually loses its elasticity and thins, the joint space narrows and bony outgrowths form at the edges. The result is pain on load, morning stiffness, crepitus and reduced mobility.
One feature matters most: cartilage has almost no blood supply. That is why it repairs itself poorly, and why pain often appears only once the process is well advanced — when surrounding tissue, ligaments and the bone beneath the cartilage are already involved.
The stage is assessed on X-ray and MRI (the Kellgren–Lawrence scale, I–IV). And the stage determines the essential question — which route is worth considering at all in your case.
Why people come
The situations we see most often
If one of these is yours, it is worth establishing the stage and the options.
- Pain on load and on stairs
The knee hurts when walking and going up or down stairs, and noticeably more by the evening.
- Painkillers help less and less
Anti-inflammatories ease the pain for shorter and shorter periods, and it worsens in between.
- Injections are wearing off
Hyaluronic acid or blocks used to help, but the relief no longer lasts.
- You want to postpone surgery
A joint replacement has been proposed and you want to understand whether anything comes before it.
- An old injury is making itself felt
A meniscus, ligament or fracture in the past — and the joint never quite returned to normal.
- You want a clear picture
You want the exact stage and an honest answer: what still makes sense, and what no longer does.
Standard care first
What is normally done before anything else
We do not propose replacing proven treatment. On the contrary: without it, any next step loses its meaning.
It is worth starting with the basics — and they work better than people assume. Standard care for knee osteoarthritis includes:
- Weight reduction — every extra kilogram multiplies the load on the knee
- Exercise therapy and strengthening the thigh muscles — this demonstrably reduces pain
- Anti-inflammatory medication — in courses, as prescribed by a physician
- Physiotherapy, orthoses and adjusting everyday load
- Intra-articular injections — hyaluronic acid, and corticosteroids during a flare
- Joint replacement — at an advanced stage, once joint function is lost
Regenerative methods do not replace this path and do not cancel it. They are considered as an addition — and only where there are medical grounds for it.
The regenerative approach
What the cluster additionally considers
On medical grounds — as an addition to standard care, never instead of it.
- Working with tissue, not only with pain
The aim of the regenerative approach is to influence the environment inside the joint: to reduce inflammation and support the body's own repair processes. This is not «growing new cartilage», and it is not a promise of a result.
- Most often, your own material
PRP is prepared from your own plasma, enriched with platelets and growth factors. Cellular programmes require laboratory preparation to protocol in a certified facility.
- Outpatient, without surgery
The injection is performed at the clinic under the supervision of a specialist physician. Hospitalisation is generally not required.
- Legal and state-supervised
In the Boao Lecheng zone, cellular technologies are permitted and operate under state regulation to GMP/ISO standards — unlike grey-market practice.
Methods
Which directions may be considered
What suits your case is determined by a physician after diagnostics.
MSC therapy
Mesenchymal stem cells — the direction considered when joints and ligaments are worn.
Peptide therapy and PRP
Growth factors from your own plasma — a simpler and well-studied regenerative tool.
Orthopaedics in the cluster
Diagnostics of joints and spine, a second opinion and modern treatment methods.
Plainly about the limits
When the regenerative route is not for you
This matters more than any marketing: knowing in advance when the method is not considered.
Plainly about the limits: the regenerative route does not suit everyone. It is usually not considered if:
- Stage IV osteoarthritis — the joint space has essentially gone, «bone on bone»: here a joint replacement is normally the discussion
- Marked limb axis deformity — that is addressed first
- Active infection, including within the joint itself
- Active cancer or severe coagulation disorders
- Expecting «entirely new cartilage» — no conscientious clinic promises that
If your scans show that the regenerative approach is not indicated, the physician will say so directly and suggest what genuinely makes sense. We do not sell a method — we arrange access to a physician's decision.
How it works
From your records to coming home
- 11. Records and scans
You send your records, X-rays and MRI. We translate the documents and pass them to a specialist physician in the cluster.
- 22. Preliminary assessment
The physician reviews the stage and history and says whether the regenerative route is worth considering. No diagnosis is made online.
- 33. Diagnostics on site
On arrival — examination, further imaging and laboratory tests where needed, and assessment of contraindications.
- 44. The programme
If it is indicated, the physician sets the plan: the method, the number of procedures and the support around them. As a rule, everything is outpatient.
- 55. Going home, and follow-up
You leave with guidance on load and recovery, and we stay in touch afterwards.
Why here
What the Boao Lecheng cluster offers
- A state-run medical zone
Boao Lecheng is an international pilot zone established by the PRC State Council, with a special regulatory regime.
- Technologies ahead of mainland China
Methods approved in the US, EU and Japan are available here legally — sooner than in most countries.
- Specialist physicians
The direction is led by the cluster's regenerative-medicine and orthopaedic physicians, with academic background and practice.
- You pay the clinic directly
No mark-up on the medicine: we coordinate, interpret and organise, without standing between you and the clinic financially.
Common questions
The essentials
Send your scans — and get a straight answer
A specialist physician in the cluster will look at your stage and say whether the regenerative route is worth considering. We do not diagnose online.