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Arthritis Treatment in Alicante with PRP and SVF

Your case and test results are reviewed by a doctor before PRP and SVF cell therapy is offered as part of arthritis care for the knee, hand, shoulder and more

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Knee joint: regenerative treatment without surgery
Joint treatment without surgery. Free consultation and review of your scans

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What it is

What is arthritis
and when does this treatment fit?

In arthritis the joint is inflamed. People typically notice pain even at rest or at night, stiffness on waking that goes on for more than half an hour, swelling, and a red, warm joint. Behind it may be an autoimmune condition such as rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, gout, an infection or old trauma.

  • No surgery — an injection instead of an operation
  • Own tissue — your blood and adipose tissue
  • Ultrasound guidance for every injection
Knee joint: an injection under ultrasound guidance

Who the treatment suits

A doctor decides whether the treatment suits you after examining you and reviewing your scans

Suitable

A doctor reviews knee X-rays with a patient
  • Pain, crunching or stiffness in a joint
  • Painkillers only help for a short time
  • Recovery after injuries and surgery
  • You need a second opinion on your scans
  • You want to avoid or postpone joint replacement
  • Early or moderate arthrosis or arthritis
  • High load on the joints — sport or physical work

Not suitable

A doctor examines a patient's knee
  • Cancer
  • Pregnancy
  • Blood clotting disorders
  • Acute infections, including infection in or near the joint
  • Flare-up of a serious chronic illness
  • Temporary contraindications: a cold, flu or fever, or skin inflammation over the joint to be treated

Not sure the treatment is right for you?

Leave your number — the coordinator will ask for your scans (X-ray, MRI or ultrasound), and the doctor will tell you whether treatment without surgery suits you.

Find out if it suits me

What we treat

Conditions we treat

How it works

How the procedure goes: step by step

Consultation and scan review1

Consultation and scan review

The joint is examined and your X-rays, MRI or ultrasound are reviewed by the doctor, who then decides if the procedure is suitable. Scans you already hold can be sent before the visit.

Blood sample for PRP2

Blood sample for PRP

Only a small amount of venous blood is taken; it is later used to prepare platelet-rich plasma with growth factors.

Adipose tissue sample3

Adipose tissue sample

With local anaesthetic, a small amount of adipose tissue — about 30 ml — is collected through a puncture on the inner thigh or abdomen, and no stitches are required.

Processing in a centrifuge4

Processing in a centrifuge

A centrifuge spins the sample until it forms layers. The stromal vascular fraction is isolated from them and mixed with platelet-rich plasma.

Injection into the joint5

Injection into the joint

The prepared material goes directly into the affected joint, with ultrasound guidance helping to place it accurately.

Follow-up6

Follow-up

You go without crutches or a hospital stay, while the doctor keeps in touch after the procedure and follows the joint's response.

Book a consultation

Call or message us — our coordinator will contact you shortly and book your consultation

A doctor talks with a patient about joint treatment
Book a consultation
A doctor talks with a patient about joint treatment

Results

After the procedure

  • Doctor talking warmly with a patient after the procedure

    1 week

    The joint may ache a little more — this is an expected reaction.

  • Doctor consulting an older patient one month after treatment

    1 month

    The pain usually eases.

  • Doctor explaining progress to a patient using a knee joint model

    ~3 months

    Mobility and activity improve.

  • Doctor and patient walking together at a follow-up visit

    ~6 months

    The full effect develops.

How long it lasts differs from person to person and depends on the stage of the condition, body weight, activity and other factors — no one can promise a fixed result.

Comparison

Methods we use

Your own adipose tissue and blood are the only materials used, never donor or synthetic ones

Cell therapy (SVF) from your own adipose tissue

From a small sample of adipose tissue we isolate the stromal vascular fraction (SVF), a mix of repair-related cells. Combined with your own plasma, the material is injected into the joint that is affected.

A doctor explains SVF cell therapy for the knee to a patient on a tablet

Once the acute flare has settled, it is used in inflammatory arthritis for its effect on tissue repair and local inflammation.

Material
Your adipose tissue and plasma
How it is given
Into the joint, under ultrasound
Duration
The whole procedure is done in one day.

PRP — platelet-rich plasma from your own blood

Plasma rich in platelets and growth factors is separated from a small amount of your blood and injected into the joint. It helps calm inflammation and creates better conditions for tissue repair.

A doctor explains PRP therapy for joints to a patient on a monitor

It may be advised for rheumatoid or other inflammatory arthritis, always as just one part of the overall plan of treatment.

Material
Your blood from a vein
How it is given
Into the joint, under ultrasound
Duration
The whole procedure is done in one day.

The benefits and timings shown are averaged and given for guidance: the plan and recovery depend on your joint and individual features, and the doctor confirms them at the consultation.

At the consultation the doctor will review your scans and suggest a treatment plan

Free consultation

Book a consultation

Joints

Joints we treat

We treat large and small joints; the joint, the method and the injection count are set by the doctor after a review of your scans

  • KneeKneeWorn cartilage, meniscus issues and pain climbing stairs or after a walk
  • HipHipEarly hip osteoarthritis, groin pain, limited rotation
  • ShoulderShoulderPain on lifting the arm and wear of the joint and nearby tendons
  • ElbowElbowWear of the joint surfaces, and pain after overuse or strain from sport
  • Hand and wrist jointsHand and wrist jointsStiff, painful small joints in the fingers and wrist
  • AnkleAnklePain and stiffness after sprains and old injuries

Advantages

Why patients choose City Medical Centre

Our focus is saving your own joint, not replacing it, through treatment without surgery

Your own tissue

Your own tissue

Your own adipose tissue and blood are the only materials used, never donor or synthetic ones

No crutches

No crutches

Small punctures, not incisions, a local anaesthetic and no lengthy rehabilitation

Second opinion

Second opinion

Send X-rays, MRI results or reports and a doctor will assess them independently and free of charge

Support after the procedure

Support after the procedure

After the injection day we stay in touch and keep following the result

About the clinic

A clinic where you can feel at ease

Modern equipment, comfortable rooms and care for every patient

A doctor and a patient at the clinic

Contact us the way that suits you

We will answer your questions and find a convenient time for a consultation

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Request a free call

Price

Arthritis treatment prices

The cost is set after the consultation: it depends on which joint, which type of arthritis and which method

FAQ

Joint treatment: frequently asked questions

About the conditions

More about these conditions

Other services of our clinic

Arthritis in Alicante: types, methods and price

Arthritis is inflammation of a joint. For patients from Alicante, typical signs are pain at rest and at night, morning stiffness that lasts longer than half an hour, swelling, redness and warmth over the joint.

PRP may be given as a course of injections or together with SVF. The method and number of injections are chosen for each patient from Alicante after the examination.

Joint inflammation that does not settle? Book a free consultation in Alicante: the doctor reviews your case and suggests whether PRP or SVF makes sense now. The price is set individually.

Heat, humidity and a January chill: what Alicante's climate asks of inflamed joints

Alicante has a warm semi-arid climate. The warmest months are July and August, with daytime highs of 30,7 and 31,1 °C and nights around 21 °C. January is the coolest month, with a high of 17,2 °C and a low of 6,7 °C. The average relative humidity is 65 %, and the city records about 3.014 hours of sun a year. The record of 42,0 °C was set on 13 August 2022. For someone with an inflamed joint, that mix means two different seasons to watch rather than one.

Nobody can promise that weather causes or prevents a flare, and the doctor will not claim it. What you can do is notice your own pattern. Some people feel stiffer on the cool January mornings, when the minimum drops to 6,7 °C. Others struggle more in the heat of late summer, when sleep suffers and activity falls. Rain also comes in bursts in Alicante: about 284,5 mm falls in a year over 34,7 days. September (51,1 mm) and October (33,1 mm) are the wettest months, and July is nearly dry at 3,2 mm. If your joints seem to react to a sudden change of weather, September and October are good months to write down carefully.

Arthritis is an inflammatory condition. The signs the doctor asks about are pain at night or at rest, morning stiffness lasting more than half an hour, swelling, and a joint that is red and warm. The climate does not change that definition. It only gives you context for your notes, so the consultation can separate "this joint is inflamed" from "this joint is tired after a long day outdoors".

Notes that make a flare readable for a doctor you meet on screen

A doctor who sees you only through a video call cannot press on the joint or watch you stand up from a chair. Good notes make up part of that gap. Keep them short and consistent, written the same way every day, ideally in the evening and again right after waking.

Start with the four features that separate inflammation from simple wear. Write down whether you woke at night because of pain, how many minutes the morning stiffness lasted (the useful threshold is half an hour), whether the joint looked swollen, and whether it felt warm or looked red. Photograph the joint in the same light and from the same angle on days when it looks different. A photo of a swollen knuckle or a red ankle often says more than a paragraph.

Next, add a small "context" line. In Alicante this can include the day's temperature, whether it rained, and whether you slept in air-conditioning or with a window open. It can also include whether you walked on the beach promenade, swam, or spent hours standing. The sea stays between 14 °C in February and March and 26 °C in August, with an annual mean of 19,6 °C. Swimming in cold water in early spring and in warm water in August are quite different experiences for the body. Note which one you did, and how the joint felt the next morning.

Late nights matter too. The Hogueras de San Juan run from 19 to 24 June, and a few days later there are five nights of fireworks competitions on Postiguet beach. Short sleep, crowds and long standing can all show up in a symptom record. If June or July is a bad month for you, the notes will show whether the cause was heat, activity or lack of rest, or something that needs the rheumatologist's attention.

Finally, record what you take. Write the name of each medicine prescribed for your joint disease, the date you started it, and any change. The doctor will be assessing PRP or SVF only as an addition to a rheumatologist's care for a systemic disease, so the existing treatment must be visible.

Waiting for a specialist in the Comunitat Valenciana: the numbers behind the queue

Many people with joint pain reach the online consultation after a long wait elsewhere, so it helps to read the public figures calmly. On 31 December 2025, the national health system's outpatient waiting list for a first specialist consultation stood at 84,42 people per 1000 inhabitants, with an average wait of 102 days. Traumatology had the longest consultation wait of any specialty, at 132 days.

The Comunitat Valenciana had 51.600 patients on a structural surgical waiting list that day. That is 9,91 per 1000 inhabitants, one of the lower rates in the system, with an average wait of 88 days. Traumatology alone accounted for 12.746 of those patients, with an average of 99 days. Nationally, the average wait for a hip replacement was 98 days, and 13,7 % of patients waited more than the maximum of 180 days. For knee replacement the average was 105 days and 15,9 % exceeded 180 days.

These numbers do not say how long a rheumatology appointment takes in Alicante, and we will not guess. What they do show is that the path from first symptoms to an operation or a specialist decision can be measured in months. During that time the joint is still painful and the person still needs a plan.

An online consultation does not replace the public-system rheumatologist or an orthopaedic assessment. It can add a second reading of your scans from a doctor who works with regenerative methods. This matters if you want to avoid or postpone joint replacement, or if painkillers help only for a short time. The service is built as treatment without surgery: an injection instead of an operation, using your own blood and adipose tissue, with ultrasound guidance for every injection. The doctor may also tell you honestly that your joint is too damaged for it. In coxarthrosis, if the joint is already badly damaged, replacement may be the more realistic option, and that is said plainly after seeing the scans.

Arthrosis is common in Spain, which is why inflammation gets overlooked

According to the 2020 European Health Survey run by the national statistics institute, osteoarthritis is the third most frequently diagnosed chronic problem among people aged 15 and over in Spain, at 14,4 %. It comes after high blood pressure (19,0 %) and high cholesterol (15,3 %). Lower back pain is reported by 13,7 %. The same survey found obesity in 16,0 % of adults aged 18 and over and overweight in 37,6 %, so 53,6 % are above normal weight.

Why does this matter for arthritis? Because joint pain is so commonly attributed to wear that an inflammatory cause can be missed or delayed. The two conditions are not the same. Osteoarthritis is gradual wear of the cartilage, felt as a dry crunch and aching pain when the joint moves, and it is degenerative rather than inflammatory. Arthritis is inflammation, driven by an autoimmune reaction, gout, infection or an old injury. A knee with marked swelling, warmth, redness and tenderness to touch fits arthritis better than simple wear. Pain at rest and at night points the same way, because the joint's pain receptors are stimulated by inflammation continuously.

Body weight is relevant as well. The service text lists weight among the factors that affect how long the result of treatment lasts, along with the stage of the condition and activity level. A person with early or moderate changes who does physical work or sport places a high load on the joints, and that load is one of the reasons the treatment may be considered. None of this is a promise. The doctor confirms the realistic expectation for your joint at the consultation.

If you recognise your story in these statistics, avoid self-labelling. Write "arthrosis" or "arthritis" in your notes only if a doctor has used the word. Otherwise describe the symptoms, and let the specialist classify them.

Getting ready for the online consultation: files, questions and timing

The first consultation is free, and the coordinators on WhatsApp and Telegram answer round the clock, usually within 15 minutes. You do not need to prepare everything before the first message. You can write that you have joint pain and ask what to send. But the more of the following you have, the more useful the first conversation will be.

Scans come first: X-ray, MRI or ultrasound images, plus the written reports if you have them. The coordinator will ask for these, and the doctor will review them to decide whether treatment without surgery suits you. Send them as you received them, and the coordinator will say if anything else is needed. Add recent blood test results if you have them. Then add your symptom notes and the list of your current medicines.

Prepare answers to the questions the doctor must ask because of the contraindications. Cancer, pregnancy, blood clotting disorders and acute infections, including infection in or near the joint, rule the procedure out. A flare-up of a serious chronic illness also postpones it. Temporary reasons to wait include a fever, a cold or flu, and any skin inflammation over the joint planned for treatment. For inflammatory arthritis, the doctor waits for the right moment and never acts during a severe flare. SVF is applied after the acute flare has calmed. So say honestly how your joint is today.

It also helps to know what the procedure involves. Blood is taken from a vein to prepare platelet-rich plasma. For SVF, about 30 ml of adipose tissue is taken under local anaesthetic through one puncture on the abdomen or the inner thigh, without stitches. The sample is spun in a centrifuge, the stromal vascular fraction is isolated and added to the plasma, and the material is injected into the joint under ultrasound guidance. The whole procedure is done in one day. There are no crutches and no hospital stay, and afterwards the doctor stays in touch.

Finally, understand the timeline. In the first week the joint may ache a little more, which is an expected reaction. After about a month the pain usually eases. Mobility and activity improve around three months, and the full effect develops around six months. This differs from person to person. Fixed outcomes cannot be promised, and the doctor sets the plan, the method and the number of injections after reviewing your scans.

Does the heat of an Alicante summer mean I should postpone a consultation?

No. The consultation is online, so the weather does not get in the way. What matters is the state of your joint. If it is swollen, red and warm, the doctor may wait for the acute flare to settle before any injection. Writing down the day's temperature next to your symptoms will help the doctor understand the pattern.

Can I use the cooler months, when the January minimum is 6,7 °C, to plan treatment?

You can discuss timing at the consultation. The doctor decides according to the state of the joint, your scans and whether an acute flare has passed, not according to the calendar. Cold, a fever or a flu-like illness may be a temporary reason to wait. Skin inflammation over the joint is another.

I have a rheumatologist in the public system. Do I have to choose between them and you?

No. For systemic diseases such as rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, PRP and SVF are meant to work alongside a rheumatologist's care, not instead of it. The injections do not cure these diseases. After a flare has settled, the doctor can assess whether they may ease local symptoms in one joint. Bring the list of your current medicines to the consultation.

Waiting times in the Comunitat Valenciana are measured in months. Can the consultation help while I wait?

It can give you a second opinion on your scans while you wait. The doctor reviews X-rays, MRI, ultrasound or blood test results free of charge and tells you whether regenerative treatment could suit your type of arthritis. It does not shorten any public queue. It is simply an additional, independent assessment.

Should I plan around the Hogueras de San Juan in late June?

Plan around how your joint feels, not around the festival. If you know that several late nights and long hours on your feet bring on swelling or stiffness, put that in your notes. The doctor will use it to understand your activity level. Tell the coordinator if you have a fever, a cold or an active flare near the date you have in mind.

My report only says "arthrosis", but I wake at night with pain and morning stiffness lasting over half an hour. What should I do?

Send the report and your notes. In the service's description, pain at night or at rest, morning stiffness longer than 30 minutes, swelling, and redness and warmth point towards inflammation rather than simple wear. Only a doctor can confirm which condition you have, so the first step is to have your scans and symptoms looked at together.

Does sea swimming at Postiguet or San Juan affect an injected joint?

There is no general rule that we can state. Ask the doctor at the consultation or afterwards, when you are in touch about your recovery. Say which beach activity you do and how often. The doctor will answer for your joint, taking into account the type of procedure and your recovery.

Which files are the most useful to send from my hospital records?

Imaging first: X-ray, MRI or ultrasound, with reports if you have them. Then recent blood tests, a list of your medicines and your symptom notes with photos of the joint if it swells. The coordinator will tell you if something else is needed.