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Arthritis Treatment in Espoo

Arthritis care for the knee, hand, shoulder and other joints can include PRP and SVF cell therapy, always after a doctor checks your case and tests

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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?

With arthritis, a joint is inflamed. Signs to watch for: pain while resting and at night, morning stiffness lasting more than half an hour, swelling, redness and warmth over the joint. There are several causes — autoimmune conditions (rheumatoid, psoriatic arthritis), gout, infection or an injury from the past.

  • 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

Suitability is decided by a doctor following an examination and a review of 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: inflamed skin above the treated joint, fever, a cold or the flu

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

If you already have scans, send them before the visit: the doctor examines the joint, reviews your X-rays, MRI or ultrasound and decides whether the procedure suits you.

Blood sample for PRP2

Blood sample for PRP

The doctor draws a small amount of blood from a vein, which later becomes platelet-rich plasma with growth factors.

Adipose tissue sample3

Adipose tissue sample

About 30 ml of adipose tissue is taken through a puncture on the abdomen or inner thigh, under local anaesthetic; the puncture needs no stitches.

Processing in a centrifuge4

Processing in a centrifuge

Centrifuging the sample separates it into layers, after which the stromal vascular fraction is isolated and mixed into the platelet-rich plasma.

Injection into the joint5

Injection into the joint

Direct injection into the affected joint under ultrasound guidance helps the prepared material land exactly where it is needed.

Follow-up6

Follow-up

Crutches and a hospital stay are not needed. The doctor keeps in contact afterwards and monitors how the joint is responding.

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

Everything used comes from you — your blood and adipose tissue — with no synthetic or donor material

Cell therapy (SVF) from your own adipose tissue

We take a small sample of your adipose tissue and process it to isolate the stromal vascular fraction (SVF), a mix of cells that take part in tissue repair. It is then combined with your own plasma and injected into the affected joint.

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

It is used in inflammatory arthritis — once the acute flare is over — for its influence on local inflammation and the repair of tissue.

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

Your blood, in a small amount, provides plasma rich in platelets and growth factors; injected into the joint, it helps ease inflammation and creates better conditions for repair of the tissues.

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

It may be recommended for rheumatoid and other inflammatory arthritis as one part of the overall treatment plan.

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

Small joints as well as large — the doctor reviews your scans and then chooses the joint, the method and how many injections to give

  • KneeKneePain climbing stairs and after walking, plus cartilage wear and meniscus problems
  • HipHipEarly hip osteoarthritis, groin pain, limited rotation
  • ShoulderShoulderJoint and surrounding tendon wear, with pain on lifting the arm
  • 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

Rather than replacing your joint, we work to keep it — this is treatment without surgery

Your own tissue

Your own tissue

Everything used comes from you — your blood and adipose tissue — with no synthetic or donor material

No crutches

No crutches

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

Second opinion

Second opinion

A doctor independently assesses the X-rays, MRI or reports you send — free of charge

Support after the procedure

Support after the procedure

The result matters to us beyond injection day, so we stay in touch after the procedure

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

You learn the cost from the doctor after the consultation, as it depends on the joint, the method and the type of arthritis

FAQ

Joint treatment: frequently asked questions

About the conditions

More about these conditions

Other services of our clinic

Arthritis in Espoo: types, methods and price

PRP and SVF can help reduce inflammation and pain and support the tissues inside the joint. For patients from Espoo with systemic disease, they complement, but do not replace, care from a rheumatologist.

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 Espoo after the examination.

Leave a request, and a coordinator will contact you to arrange a free consultation. The price of arthritis treatment in Espoo is explained before any procedure.

Flares, frost and a symptom diary in southern Uusimaa

Espoo sits on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, about 58 km of shoreline with roughly 165 islands in front of it. The climate is humid continental. In January the mean daily maximum is -2.3 °C and the minimum -6.5 °C, and February is almost the same at -2.2 °C and -6.9 °C. Even March only reaches 1.6 °C by day, with nights at -4.8 °C. Snow usually first falls after Christmas and melts from late March to early April. For someone with an inflamed joint, that is a long stretch of cold mornings.

Arthritis is more than stiffness after a cold morning. The signs to look for are pain at night or at rest, morning stiffness lasting longer than half an hour, swelling, and a joint that looks red and feels warm. The cause can be autoimmune (rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis), gout, infection or an old injury. Winter weather does not decide which one you have. A well-kept diary can still show whether cold, damp or a change in routine lines up with your bad days.

A useful diary needs only a few lines a day: which joint, a pain score from 0 to 10, how many minutes the morning stiffness lasted, whether swelling or warmth was visible, and what you took for it. Add a note on sleep, unusual exertion, a recent cold or fever, and any skin changes near the joint. Fever, a cold or skin inflammation over the planned joint are temporary reasons to postpone treatment, so those notes help the doctor too.

Espoo's annual precipitation is about 659.8 mm. August is the wettest month at 74.3 mm, and April the driest at 33.6 mm. Sunshine is scarce from November to January, and day length falls to about 6 hours at midwinter, against about 19 hours at midsummer. Over a full year, these swings let you compare a dark, snowy February with a bright, wet August. Do not assume the weather is the cause. A diary shows patterns, and the doctor and your rheumatologist read them together with your scans and tests.

What the doctor wants to know before treatment is planned

The online consultation starts with the question of what kind of arthritis you have. PRP and SVF are not a cure for a systemic disease such as rheumatoid arthritis. They are considered alongside the care of your rheumatologist, never instead of it. The doctor confirms the type of arthritis first and then waits for the right moment. Nothing is done during a severe flare or an active joint infection. For inflammatory arthritis, the cell therapy (SVF) is applied after the acute flare has calmed.

Prepare a short summary before the call:

- Your diagnosis, if you have one, and the date it was made.

- The medicines prescribed by your rheumatologist, so the doctor sees the whole plan.

- Which joints are affected: knee, hip, shoulder, elbow, hand and wrist, or ankle.

- X-ray, MRI or ultrasound images and the written reports that go with them.

- Recent blood test results, if you have them.

- Your symptom diary for the last weeks.

Tell the doctor about anything on the "not suitable" list: cancer, pregnancy, blood clotting disorders, an acute infection including one in or near the joint, or a flare of a serious chronic illness. If you have a fever, a cold or flu, or any skin inflammation over the joint, say so as well. These are temporary obstacles and the doctor will postpone rather than push on.

About one in four residents of Espoo, 25.9%, has a foreign language as their mother tongue. If your reports are written in Finnish or another language, send them as they are. The coordinator will tell you if anything else is needed. Coordinators answer round the clock on WhatsApp and Telegram, so you can send scans late in the evening or between shifts. Reading images and reports in advance is also why the consultation and scan review are free.

Public care, private care and what Kela covers

In Finland, public health services are available to everyone resident in the country. Municipalities are responsible for organising them, and private care exists alongside. The most demanding care is given in five hospital districts, one of them Helsinki. Espoo belongs to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area and borders Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi, and it surrounds the enclave of Kauniainen. A person with arthritis in this region will usually have ongoing follow-up in the public system, and that relationship with your rheumatologist should stay in place.

An online consultation with our doctor is meant to add a second opinion on your scans and a look at whether regenerative injections could fit into your plan. It does not replace specialist follow-up. If you are already under a rheumatologist, tell the doctor what has been prescribed and what your latest results show. The care plan then fits together rather than competing.

Reimbursement works in a specific way. Kela reimburses private care only when it is necessary treatment of illness, pregnancy or childbirth in line with accepted good practice. When Kela judges necessity, it uses the Käypä hoito recommendations and the range of health-care services. Reimbursements are fixed euro amounts per visit, not a share of the price. Kela also does not pay sickness-care reimbursement for aesthetic treatment. So whether any part of a visit is reimbursed depends on the type of care and on Kela's own rules. Ask Kela directly, and ask your insurer if you have private cover, before you assume anything. The coordinator can tell you what documents the doctor can provide after the consultation, but cannot predict a reimbursement decision.

How the procedure runs, and what to expect afterwards

If the doctor decides that treatment suits you, the steps are the same whichever joint is involved. A small amount of blood is taken from a vein to prepare platelet-rich plasma (PRP). For cell therapy, roughly 30 ml of adipose tissue is taken under local anaesthetic through a single puncture on the abdomen or inner thigh, with no stitches required. A centrifuge separates the sample into layers, the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) is isolated and then added to the plasma. The material goes into the affected joint with ultrasound guidance helping to place it accurately. Everything uses your own blood and adipose tissue, with nothing synthetic and nothing from a donor. The whole procedure is done in one day. There are no crutches and no hospital stay.

The doctor chooses the joint, the method and the number of injections after reviewing your scans. The joints treated include the knee, hip, shoulder, elbow, the small joints of the hand and wrist, and the ankle.

The timeline given for guidance is as follows. In the first week the joint may ache a little more, which is an expected reaction. After about a month, pain usually eases. At about 3 months, mobility and activity improve, and around 6 months the full effect develops. These are averages. How long it lasts depends on the stage of the condition, body weight, activity and other factors, and no one can promise a fixed result. Use your diary here as well. Keep scoring pain and morning stiffness after the injection, so that at follow-up the doctor sees your numbers, not just an impression.

A related point is body weight. In Finland, 30% of women and 27% of men have obesity (BMI of 30 or more), about 1.2 million adults, according to the THL Terve Suomi 2023 survey. Weight is one of the factors named as affecting how long the effect lasts. Raise it with the doctor openly. It is information for planning, not a judgement.

Fitting arthritis care into a Finnish calendar

Espoo is a city that keeps moving. Aalto University has its main campus in Otaniemi, with about 16,000 students and 5,200 employees. The city is growing, with a population of 325,716 at the end of 2025, and 15.3% of residents are over 65. Whether you work on campus, shift work or physical work, high load on the joints counts in the doctor's assessment, so describe your daily tasks as precisely as you can.

Calendar planning matters too. Finnish public holidays include 1 January, 6 January, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Monday, 1 May, Ascension, Pentecost, Midsummer Day, All Saints' Day, 6 December, and 25 and 26 December. Midsummer Eve and Christmas Eve are generally not working days. If you want to have images taken or reports collected before a consultation, do not leave it for the days just before a long weekend. Messaging the coordinator works at any hour, but your own medical providers may be slow to answer during those periods.

Activity helps keep joints moving. The city names the Leppävaara, Keski-Espoo, Espoonlahti and Tapiola pools, the Serena Waterpark and outdoor islands, and Nuuksio National Park lies within Espoo. Which activities are safe for your joint, and when to resume them after an injection, is for the doctor to answer at the consultation. Do not decide it from a list of facilities.

Does Espoo's cold winter make arthritis worse?

There is no rule that the weather causes a flare. January in Espoo has a mean maximum of -2.3 °C and a minimum of -6.5 °C, and snow usually stays until late March or early April, so many people notice stiffness in the cold months. A symptom diary with a daily pain score and the minutes of morning stiffness lets you and the doctor see whether your own bad days follow the weather or something else, such as an infection or a change in medication.

How long should I keep a symptom diary before the consultation?

A few weeks gives the doctor something to work with, but start today even if the consultation is soon. Note the joint, the pain from 0 to 10, how long morning stiffness lasts compared with the 30-minute mark, any swelling, redness or warmth, and what you took. Add fever, a cold or any skin problem over the joint, because these can delay treatment.

Will Kela reimburse an online consultation or the injections?

We cannot promise it. Kela reimburses private care only when it is necessary treatment of illness in line with accepted good practice, and it judges necessity using the Käypä hoito recommendations. Reimbursements are fixed euro amounts per visit, not a share of the price. Ask Kela and your insurer directly, and tell the coordinator if you need a document from the doctor for them.

I am already followed by a public-sector rheumatologist. Do I need to stop that?

No. Public health services are open to residents, and PRP and SVF are not a replacement for a rheumatologist's care of a systemic disease. They are considered alongside it. Bring your diagnosis and medicine list to the consultation so that the doctor can see the full picture.

My scan reports are in Finnish. Is that a problem?

Send them as they are, together with the images if you have them. The coordinator will tell you if anything else is needed. The doctor works from the images and your history, and you can add a short description of your symptoms in your own words.

When in the year is the best moment to plan treatment?

The calendar matters less than the state of the joint. The doctor does not treat during a severe flare or an active joint infection, and cell therapy for inflammatory arthritis is applied after the acute flare has calmed. Practical points can help, such as collecting scans before Midsummer Eve or Christmas Eve, when offices are generally closed, and starting the diary early.

What should I do between the first message and the consultation?

Gather your latest X-ray, MRI or ultrasound and their reports, a list of medicines, recent blood tests, and your diary. Write down your questions, for example which joint matters most and what you want to be able to do again. Coordinators answer round the clock on WhatsApp and Telegram if anything is unclear.