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Joint Inflammation Treatment in Szczecin

As part of arthritis care, PRP and SVF cell therapy for the knee, hand, shoulder and other joints — after a doctor has first reviewed 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?

Put simply, arthritis is joint inflammation. The joint may hurt at rest and at night, feel stiff each morning for more than half an hour, swell, redden and feel warm. Causes include autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis, as well as gout, infection or an old injury.

  • 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

It is a doctor who decides, after examining you and going through your scans, whether the treatment suits you

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

Examination of the joint and a review of X-rays, MRI or ultrasound let the doctor decide whether the procedure is suitable for you; scans you already have can be sent beforehand.

Blood sample for PRP2

Blood sample for PRP

From a small amount of blood drawn from a vein, platelet-rich plasma with growth factors is prepared later on.

Adipose tissue sample3

Adipose tissue sample

Through a puncture on the inner thigh or abdomen, and under local anaesthetic, about 30 ml of adipose tissue is taken. Stitches are not needed.

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

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

We use only your own adipose tissue and blood, 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

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

A small amount of your blood is used to separate plasma rich in platelets and growth factors, which is then injected into the joint. It helps settle inflammation and gives tissue repair better conditions.

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

Rheumatoid and other inflammatory arthritis may call for it 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

Both large and small joints — after reviewing your scans, the doctor decides on the joint, the method and how many injections you need

  • KneeKneeCartilage wear, meniscus problems, pain on stairs and after walking
  • HipHipEarly hip osteoarthritis, groin pain, limited rotation
  • ShoulderShoulderPain when raising the arm, wear of the joint and surrounding tendons
  • ElbowElbowWear on the joint surfaces and pain after overuse or sports strain
  • Hand and wrist jointsHand and wrist jointsStiffness and pain in the small joints of the fingers and wrist
  • AnkleAnklePain and stiffness after sprains and old injuries

Advantages

Why patients choose City Medical Centre

Your own joint stays: we work on keeping it rather than replacing it — treatment without surgery

Your own tissue

Your own tissue

We use only your own adipose tissue and blood, with no synthetic or donor material

No crutches

No crutches

Under local anaesthetic, through punctures instead of incisions, with no long rehabilitation afterwards

Second opinion

Second opinion

An independent assessment from a doctor, free of charge, once you send your X-rays, MRI or reports

Support after the procedure

Support after the procedure

We track the result after the procedure and keep in touch, rather than stopping at injection day

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

After the consultation the doctor names the cost, which depends on the joint, the arthritis type and the method

FAQ

Joint treatment: frequently asked questions

About the conditions

More about these conditions

Other services of our clinic

About arthritis treatment for patients from Szczecin

Regenerative injections are not done during an active joint infection or a severe flare. In Szczecin, the doctor chooses the right moment, usually once the acute inflammation has settled.

Pain usually eases over the first month, and mobility improves over about three months. For patients from Szczecin, the full effect develops over around six months, and its duration differs from person to person.

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

Damp winters, bright summers: reading flares against the weather

Szczecin has an oceanic climate. The 1991-2020 normals put the January mean maximum at 3.0 °C and the minimum at -1.8 °C. February is close behind at 4.5 °C and -1.3 °C, and December reaches 4.0 °C and -0.5 °C. Relative humidity averages 79.9% over the year, but it peaks in November at 89.1% and December at 89.0%, while April is the driest at 70.8%. Winter light is thin too: December has only 32.2 hours of sunshine and January 42.7, against 246.3 hours in July.

Many people with inflammatory arthritis say their joints feel worse in cold, damp spells. The evidence for a direct link is mixed, and this matters when you plan treatment. A swollen, warm, stiff joint is a sign of inflammation in the joint itself. It is not simply a reaction to the barometer. If a flare coincides with a grey week in December, the weather may be a coincidence, a trigger, or only a factor that makes you notice the symptoms more.

That is why we ask patients to look at their own data before drawing conclusions. The city's year gives you a clear contrast to test against. Snow is recorded on an average of 23.7 days a year, mostly in January (7.6 days) and February (6.9 days), and there is none from May to October. Annual precipitation is about 567 mm on 166.6 days with at least 0.1 mm. July is the wettest month at 76.2 mm and April the driest at 31.2 mm. Humid and dry months, cold and mild ones, are all available for comparison. If your joints flare in dry, warm July as often as in wet November, the weather is probably not your main driver, and the doctor will look elsewhere: infection, medication timing, stress, or the disease activity itself.

The doctor will not treat a weather pattern. In an inflammatory condition the sequence is fixed: first confirm the type of arthritis, then wait until an acute flare has calmed, and only then decide whether PRP or SVF injections make sense as a supplement to the care of your rheumatologist.

A symptom diary that the doctor can actually use

A diary is the most useful thing you can prepare, and it costs nothing. Our coordinators see two kinds of notes. One says "bad week, knee hurt". The other lets a doctor see a pattern. Aim for the second kind.

Record the same few things each day, preferably at the same hour. Write down how long morning stiffness lasts. The service material treats stiffness lasting longer than half an hour as a marker worth noticing, so note whether yours is shorter or longer than that. Note whether the pain wakes you at night or appears when you rest, since night and resting pain point towards inflammation rather than wear. Add which joints are swollen, and whether any look red or feel warm to the touch. A simple 0-10 pain score is enough, with a short line about what you did that day.

Then add the context that matters for the weather question. Note the outdoor temperature if you like, but also record changes in your medication, any cold, fever or skin problem near a joint, and how you slept. A fever, a cold or flu, or skin inflammation over the planned joint are temporary reasons to postpone any injection, so they are worth marking when they happen.

If you live by the water, note that too. Szczecin lies on both banks of the Oder, with the Regalica branch running through the city and Lake Dąbie entirely within the city limits. Sailing, diving and water polo clubs exist in the city. If you swim or train in cold water, tell us, because it is part of your joint load and your diary should show it.

A diary also helps you in the weeks after any procedure. The material describes a typical course: the joint may ache a little more in the first week, pain usually eases around the first month, mobility and activity improve at about three months, and the full effect develops at about six months. These are averages, and the stage of the condition, body weight and activity change them. Your diary is how you and the doctor will see what happens in your own joint, instead of relying on those averages.

Where national health coverage ends and a private opinion begins

The patient pays for none of the core rheumatology pathway if it is within the insured range. According to the NFZ patient information, services listed in the catalogues of financed services are, in most cases, free for the insured patient, and anything outside those catalogues is not financed by NFZ. Poland's insurance system is funded through a contribution from personal income, and uninsured patients pay the full cost of services.

For inflammatory arthritis this division is simple. Diagnosis, disease-modifying drug therapy and monitoring by a rheumatologist are the foundation, and nothing we do replaces them. PRP and SVF are described in our material as a supplement to specialist care for a systemic disease. They do not cure rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriatic arthritis cannot currently be cured completely, so the goal there is to keep inflammation under control and prevent joint deformity.

So think of the online consultation as a second layer. You keep your rheumatologist and your NFZ pathway. We review your scans, whether X-ray, MRI or ultrasound, and your reports free of charge, and the doctor tells you whether regenerative treatment could suit your type of arthritis. The consultation carries no obligation to book anything. The price of a procedure depends on the joint, the method and the type of arthritis, so the doctor gives it only after the consultation.

One practical point is that your NFZ records and our consultation do not conflict. Bring both into the conversation: the diagnosis your rheumatologist made, the medicines you take, and the dates of your last check-up. The doctor will use them to judge timing, because injections are never given during a severe flare or an active joint infection.

Waiting lists, referrals and the public holiday calendar

Specialist access in Poland runs on waiting lists, and the rules shape how you can use time well. Under the NFZ rule, a patient may be entered on a waiting list for a given service with only one provider, and the original referral must be delivered within 14 working days of being entered on the list. If you are waiting for a rheumatology or orthopaedic appointment, check with your provider that your referral has reached them within that window.

Waiting times for joint replacement give some context for people with severe damage. A Ministry of Health reply to a parliamentary question on orthopaedics, with a focus on one voivodeship and not clearly stating whether the figures are national, reported the average wait for hip replacement falling from 195 days in 2022 to 172 days in 2024. For knee replacement the fall was from 242 to 214 days. These are long periods, and many people want to know what can be done in the meantime.

This is where an early-stage joint can benefit from a conversation with us. The material says that at early or moderate stages, injections combined with exercise therapy and physiotherapy can reduce pain and improve movement. If a joint is already badly damaged, replacement may be the more realistic option, and the doctor will say so plainly after seeing your scans. Our aim is to keep your own joint where that is realistic, not to postpone an operation you need.

Holidays matter for the calendar. Poland has 14 public non-working days, including 1 January, 6 January, Easter Sunday and Monday, 1 May, 3 May, Pentecost Sunday, Corpus Christi, 15 August, 1 November, 11 November, 24 December, and 25 and 26 December. Local surgeries and laboratories can be hard to reach around them, so if you need a blood test or a referral before your consultation, arrange it ahead of a holiday stretch. Our coordinators answer on WhatsApp and Telegram round the clock, including on those days.

The folder to assemble before the first message

You do not need a perfect file. A partial one is enough to start, and the coordinator will ask for what is missing. A useful folder has five parts.

First, your imaging: X-ray, MRI or ultrasound of the painful joint, as image files or reports, with the dates. Second, recent blood test results, particularly anything your rheumatologist ordered to track inflammation. Third, a list of your current medicines, with doses as your doctor prescribed them, and a note of anything stopped recently. Fourth, your diary, even if it covers only two or three weeks. Fifth, a short note of the diagnosis you were given and when, because the type of arthritis, whether autoimmune, gout, infection or an old injury, changes the plan.

Also prepare your own questions. Think about which joint bothers you most, what you want to be able to do again, and what you are worried about. Say if you are pregnant or may be, if you have cancer, a blood clotting disorder, or any current infection, because these are reasons the procedure is not done or is postponed. If a fever or skin problem appears near the joint before a planned procedure, tell the coordinator at once.

On the day, a stable connection and good light help if the doctor asks to see the joint on camera. Have the diary open beside you. The doctor will go through the imaging, ask about stiffness, night pain and swelling, and then tell you honestly whether treatment without surgery suits you, whether another approach is better, or whether it is wiser to wait.

Should I keep my diary through a whole Szczecin winter before contacting you?

No. Two or three weeks of daily notes are enough to start a useful conversation, and you can keep adding to it afterwards. If you are in the middle of a flare, send what you have anyway, because the doctor will in any case wait for the flare to settle before considering injections.

Do damp months in Szczecin make arthritis worse?

The link is not settled. November and December have the highest relative humidity, at 89.1% and 89.0%, and some people feel worse then, but a joint that is red, warm and swollen reflects inflammation in the joint itself. Your diary, compared across wet and dry months, is the best way to see what applies to you.

Does NFZ pay for PRP or SVF injections?

NFZ finances services listed in its catalogues, and anything outside them is not financed. We cannot tell you how your own case is classified, so ask your NFZ provider. The doctor gives the price of a procedure only after the consultation, and the review of your scans is free.

Can I stay with my rheumatologist and still have an online consultation with you?

Yes, and that is the intended arrangement. PRP and SVF supplement the care of a rheumatologist for a systemic disease and do not replace it. Share your diagnosis and medication list so the doctor can judge timing.

I am on a waiting list for a joint specialist. Can I use the waiting time?

Yes. NFZ rules allow entry on a waiting list with only one provider for a given service, so use the consultation for a second opinion on your scans, not for a second listing. The doctor will tell you whether an early-stage joint could be helped with injections plus exercise therapy and physiotherapy.

Will public holidays slow down my consultation?

Not on our side, because coordinators answer round the clock on WhatsApp and Telegram. Local laboratories and surgeries may be harder to reach during the 14 public non-working days, so book any blood test or referral you need before a holiday period.

What if my joint is warm and swollen right now?

Write it down in your diary and message the coordinator. A severe flare and an active joint infection are both reasons for the doctor to postpone any injection, so the first step is to assess what is happening, not to schedule a procedure.

Can the doctor tell me online whether the treatment suits me?

The doctor can review your scans, reports and diary and give an honest view of whether treatment without surgery suits you. A physical examination and ultrasound guidance come at the procedure stage, and the doctor confirms the plan, the joint and the number of injections at the consultation.