I had both hips, both knees and a thumb joint injected last summer. I had to go offshore for cultured (multiplied) stem cells. The jury is still out, but by some measures the results are impressive. Before the procedure, at my worst, walking down stairs was excruciating, and I could not put on pants standing up. Now I am much less limited. Trying to quantify it, pre-procedure the pain level would regularly peak at 7-8 out of 10, resulting in a fair degree of debilitation. Now it's more like 4-5.

I express reservations due to the high cost, and because I haven't ramped up my training—cycling—to pre-procedure intensity. That will be the acid test.