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Joint Pain Treatment in Zurich

Cell therapy (SVF) and PRP for the knee, hip, shoulder and other joints. A free review of your scans before any decision

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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 regenerative
joint treatment?

Regenerative joint treatment uses material from your own body — platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from blood and the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) from a small sample of adipose tissue. It is injected into the affected joint to reduce pain and inflammation and to support the tissues inside it.

  • 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

Whether the treatment suits you is decided by a doctor after 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: having a fever, a cold or flu, or inflamed skin 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 doctor assesses the joint in person and reviews X-rays, MRI or ultrasound, then decides if you are a candidate for the procedure. Scans you have can be sent before the visit.

Blood sample for PRP2

Blood sample for PRP

A small volume of blood is drawn from a vein, which is later turned into platelet-rich plasma with growth factors.

Adipose tissue sample3

Adipose tissue sample

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

Processing in a centrifuge4

Processing in a centrifuge

In a centrifuge the sample separates into layers. The stromal vascular fraction is then isolated and combined with the platelet-rich plasma.

Injection into the joint5

Injection into the joint

Under ultrasound guidance, the ready material goes directly into the affected joint, so it can be placed accurately.

Follow-up6

Follow-up

No crutches and no hospital stay. The doctor stays in touch after the procedure and follows how the joint responds.

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

Only material from your own blood and adipose tissue is used, with no donor or synthetic components

Cell therapy (SVF) from your own adipose tissue

The method starts with a small adipose tissue sample, which is processed to separate the stromal vascular fraction (SVF), a mix of cells active in tissue repair. With your own plasma added, it is injected into the affected joint.

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

The usual reason to choose it: more pronounced changes in the joint and the goal of a longer-lasting effect.

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

From a small blood sample, plasma rich in platelets and growth factors is separated and injected into the joint. It helps ease inflammation and creates a better environment for tissues to repair.

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

Used by itself as an injection course, or together with SVF.

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

Treatment covers large and small joints, with the joint, the method and the number of injections chosen after the doctor reviews your scans

  • KneeKneeWear of the cartilage, meniscus problems, pain on the stairs and after walks
  • HipHipEarly hip osteoarthritis, groin pain, limited rotation
  • ShoulderShoulderPain when raising the arm, wear of the joint and surrounding tendons
  • ElbowElbowPain caused by overuse or sports strain; worn joint surfaces
  • 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

No surgery: our work is about keeping your own joint, not swapping it for an implant

Your own tissue

Your own tissue

Only material from your own blood and adipose tissue is used, with no donor or synthetic components

No crutches

No crutches

No incisions — just punctures under local anaesthetic, with no long rehabilitation

Second opinion

Second opinion

Send any X-rays, MRI or reports and receive an independent assessment from a doctor for free

Support after the procedure

Support after the procedure

We keep following the result and stay in touch after the procedure, not only on 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

Joint treatment prices

The cost is named by the doctor after the consultation, since it depends on the joint, the stage of the condition and the method

FAQ

Joint treatment: frequently asked questions

About the conditions

More about these conditions

Other services of our clinic

How SVF and PRP therapy works for Zurich residents

If you have been told that joint replacement is the only choice, a second opinion is worth getting. In Zurich, you can send your scans and reports for a free independent assessment before making any decision about surgery.

Most patients from Zurich go home the same day and return to normal daily activity within a day or two. During the first week the joint may ache a little more — this is an expected reaction. Pain usually eases over the first month.

Book a free consultation in Zurich to find out whether regenerative joint treatment suits you. The doctor names the price after examining the joint and reviewing your scans.

Between the lake shore and the Uetliberg: what the terrain asks of knees and hips

Zürich sits at 409 m above sea level, at the lower, northern end of the Zürichsee. The city's height range runs from 391 m to 870 m, and the top of that range is the Uetliberg. The lowest point is about 392 m, on the Limmat at Oberengstringen. That is a difference of nearly 480 m inside one municipality. For a person with a painful knee or an early-stage hip problem, the terrain is part of the daily routine. A short walk from the water often becomes a climb, and the way home may be a descent that loads the knee more than level walking does.

The rivers add their own pattern. The Limmat leaves the lake, and the Sihl joins it at the Platzspitz. Anyone who commutes, walks or cycles along these valleys meets repeated short slopes, bridges and steps down to the water. The joint most often affected by such a rhythm is the knee. The treatment description lists pain when climbing stairs or after walking, cartilage wear and meniscus trouble as typical knee complaints. If descending a slope hurts more than walking on the flat, mention it to the coordinator in your first message, because it helps the doctor picture which part of the joint is under strain.

The hip has a different pattern. Early hip osteoarthritis tends to show up as groin pain and limited rotation, which can be noticeable when getting out of a low seat or putting on shoes. The doctor will not decide from a description of hills alone. At the free online consultation the joint is discussed and your X-rays, MRI or ultrasound are reviewed to decide whether the procedure suits you. Walking and stairs are useful extra detail for that review, but the scans decide.

The method itself is built around your own tissue. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) comes from a small blood sample taken from a vein. The stromal vascular fraction (SVF) comes from roughly 30 ml of adipose tissue taken under local anaesthetic through a small puncture in the abdomen or inner thigh, with no stitches needed. After centrifuging, the material is injected into the joint under ultrasound guidance. For someone who lives on the slopes around the city, the point of this approach is to try to keep the natural joint and avoid or postpone replacement.

Damp, frosty months and the stiffness that comes after rest

The climate figures for Zürich show why winter mornings can feel hard on the joints. The annual mean temperature is 9.9 °C. January averages 1.0 °C, with a mean maximum of 3.8 °C and a mean minimum of −1.9 °C. Over a year there are about 87 frost days and about 16 ice days, meaning days when the temperature stays below freezing all day. Mean relative humidity is 77.7%, annual precipitation is 1,021 mm, and there are 125.2 rain days. Winter light is thin: December averages 1.3 hours of sunshine a day and January 1.6 hours.

None of this proves that weather damages cartilage, and the treatment description does not claim it. What it does describe is a useful distinction for anyone who feels their joints more in cold, damp months. Osteoarthritis is gradual wear of the cartilage at the ends of the bones. Typical signs are aching pain on movement, crunching, and stiffness after rest. Arthritis is inflammation, with pain at rest and at night, morning stiffness lasting more than 30 minutes, swelling, and redness and warmth over the joint. The two are treated differently, so the diagnosis comes first. If you notice that your knee is worse on a cold morning, write down whether the discomfort eases within minutes of moving or lasts longer than half an hour. That detail is more useful to the doctor than the temperature outside.

Winter has one practical consequence for planning. The treatment description lists temporary contraindications: skin inflammation over the joint to be treated, a fever, a cold or flu. A season with many frost days is also a season of colds. If you have a cough or a temperature on the planned day, tell the coordinator early. A short delay for a temporary reason is normal, and the plan can simply move to a healthier week.

Compare that with the other end of the year. July has a mean daily maximum of 25.1 °C and about 7.6 hours of sunshine a day, and the year has about 51 summer days. Activity rises when the weather allows it, and the load on the joints rises with it. If a procedure is planned for the quieter cold months, the joint may already be calmer by the time the long days arrive. The text gives approximate timings: after about a week the joint may ache a little more, which is an expected reaction. After about a month the pain usually eases, around three months mobility and activity improve, and around six months the full effect develops. These timings are averaged and individual, and nobody can promise a fixed result.

Summer on the water, big crowds and a student city: loads that add up

Several features of life in Zürich put sustained or repeated load on joints, and it helps to think about them when you plan treatment.

The Flussbad Oberer Letten on the Limmat has free entry. Swimming takes place in the headrace canal of the Letten power plant, and it is suited only to good swimmers. Swimming is gentle on the joints because the water carries the body weight. The scrambles on wet steps and the climb back up are another matter, and an ankle with old sprain damage or a stiff knee can complain about them. The ankle is among the joints the treatment description names, with pain and stiffness after sprains and old injuries as the typical picture.

The Street Parade is usually held on the second Saturday in August along the Zürichsee. Attendance is around 900,000, with 920,000 in 2023 and a record 1,100,000 in 2018. Standing and dancing for hours in a dense crowd is a heavy test for the knees, ankles and hips. If you know you want to be comfortable on that day, work backwards from the date. Going by the timings above, full effect develops around six months, so an August event is a reasonable reference point for a plan agreed in late winter. Whether treatment is right for you depends on your scans, and the doctor decides after review.

Sechseläuten falls on the third Monday of April, or is moved if it lands in Holy Week or on Easter Monday. The afternoon is a half holiday for city employees, which is a local custom and not a statutory holiday. For planning, it gives a spring marker. If a plan were agreed in early December 2026, the roughly three-month point, when mobility and activity improve, would fall around March 2027. Sechseläuten on 19 April 2027 would then arrive in the stretch between that point and the six-month mark. This is only an illustration of how to count, not a prediction for any one person.

Zürich is also a student city. Universität Zürich had 28,476 students in 2024, and ETH Zürich lists 26,942 students in its article, with no year given. Young, sporty people are not the typical group for arthrosis, but the treatment list includes recovery after injuries and surgery, and meniscus pathology and injury. A student who has had a sports injury and still has aching or swelling can send scans for a free second opinion like anyone else. The doctor will independently assess X-rays, MRI or reports free of charge once you send them.

How basic health insurance frames joint care in Switzerland

All persons staying in Switzerland must have health insurance. The basic benefits under the OKP system are identical nationwide for all insured people, and they cover illness, accident and maternity. Insurers must offer the basic plan to everyone regardless of age or health status. For an ageing person with worn joints, that means access to the basic plan does not depend on the diagnosis.

Cost sharing in the basic system has a simple structure, and the figures change from year to year, so this text gives none. Adults choose an annual deductible, called the franchise, from several levels, and the ordinary level is the lowest one. After the deductible is used up, the insured person pays a percentage share of further costs, up to a yearly cap. The maximum out-of-pocket amount for an adult therefore depends on the deductible level chosen. For an inpatient stay, people who do not live with family members pay a daily contribution with no time limit. Maternity services and designated preventive measures carry no cost sharing.

Two points matter here. First, the procedure described on our pages needs no hospital stay and no crutches, so the inpatient daily contribution is not part of that picture. Second, whether a particular injection treatment is reimbursed by an insurer is a question between you and the insurer. We cannot answer it for you, and the price for the procedure is stated by the doctor after the consultation, because the joint, the stage of the condition and the method all affect it. A sensible order is: send scans, get the doctor's plan, then ask your insurer whether any part falls under your cover.

Some background helps with expectations. Basic insurance does not generally pay for dental care, except in special exceptional cases. Since 2017 various complementary medicine therapies have been reimbursed. Those two facts show that the basic list is specific rather than all-inclusive, so it is wise to ask rather than assume. Ask the coordinator for a written description of the proposed procedure, the joint and the method. With that document in hand, a conversation with an insurer is easier.

Planning the consultation from Zürich: scans, messages and a realistic calendar

The first step costs nothing and commits you to nothing. The consultation and the review of your scans are free. You write to the coordinator on WhatsApp or Telegram, where coordinators answer round the clock, and you can also leave your name and phone number in the form. The coordinator will ask for your existing X-ray, MRI or ultrasound. Reports and CT are accepted too for a second opinion. The doctor then tells you whether treatment without surgery suits you, and you receive a personal plan.

It helps to prepare a few notes before writing:

- Which joint hurts, and on which side.

- What brings the pain on: stairs, slopes, a long walk, sitting for a long time.

- Whether stiffness eases quickly or lasts more than half an hour in the morning.

- Whether painkillers help only briefly.

- Any earlier injury or operation on that joint.

- Chronic illnesses, and whether you currently have a fever, a cold or a skin problem over the joint.

The list of unsuitable cases is clear: cancer, pregnancy, blood clotting disorders, acute infections including infection in or near the joint, and a flare-up of a serious chronic illness. Mentioning any of these in your first message saves time.

On the day of the procedure itself, the whole process takes one day. The steps are a blood sample, a sample of adipose tissue for SVF cases, centrifuging, and an ultrasound-guided injection. After that the doctor stays in touch and follows how the joint responds. Normally you can return to everyday life within a day or two, and you get recommendations on load and exercise for the first weeks. For anyone who lives on a slope or climbs the stairs of an old building every day, that last point is worth discussing in detail. Ask what to avoid and for how long. The doctor gives these recommendations for your case and does not apply one rule to everyone.

Questions people from Zürich ask before sending scans

I live on a hillside and climb stairs every day. Should I mention that when I write?

Yes. Tell the coordinator which stairs or slopes bring on the pain, and whether going up or down is worse. The treatment description names pain when climbing stairs or after walking as a typical knee complaint. It helps the doctor connect your daily routine with what is visible on the scans, but the decision on treatment is based on the examination and the scan review.

Is winter a bad time to start, given the frost and the damp?

There is no rule against it. The only time limits in the description are temporary: a fever, a cold or flu, or skin inflammation over the joint to be treated can delay the procedure. Zürich has about 87 frost days and 125.2 rain days a year, so colds are possible in winter. If you feel unwell, tell the coordinator, and the date can be moved.

Will Swiss basic health insurance pay for PRP or SVF injections?

We cannot say for you. The basic benefits are the same across the country for all insured people and cover illness, accident and maternity, but reimbursement of a specific procedure depends on your insurer and your policy. The doctor states the cost of treatment after the consultation. Ask the coordinator for a written description of the plan, and then raise it with your insurer.

Does my annual deductible matter for this?

It matters only if your insurer reimburses a part of the treatment. In the basic system, adults choose an annual deductible level, then pay a percentage share up to a yearly cap. If nothing is reimbursed, the deductible plays no role. Ask your insurer in writing before you decide.

Can I swim, cycle or go to a big summer event after the procedure?

The doctor gives load and exercise recommendations for the first weeks, and you should follow them. Normally people return to normal life within a day or two, with no crutches. After about a week the joint may ache a little more, which is an expected reaction. Mobility and activity improve around three months. For events like the Street Parade in August, with long standing and dancing, discuss the timing with the doctor in advance.

My scans were made at a Swiss hospital. Can I still use them?

Yes. Send existing X-ray, MRI or ultrasound images and reports through WhatsApp or Telegram, or as the coordinator asks. A doctor will independently assess them free of charge, and you will hear whether the procedure could suit you and what else may be needed.

I had a sports injury at university and still have a swollen knee. Is that too early for treatment?

Age is not the deciding factor. The treatment list includes meniscus pathology and injury, and recovery after injuries and surgery. Whether PRP or SVF suits you depends on the scans and examination. A swollen joint with a fever or skin inflammation is a different matter, since those are temporary contraindications to be cleared first.

How do I count when the effect should be visible, so that I can plan the year?

Use the averaged timings: about a week for a possible increase in ache, about a month for pain to ease, around three months for better mobility and activity, around six months for the full effect. These are guidelines only. The stage of the condition, body weight and activity change them, and no one can promise a fixed result. The doctor confirms the plan at the consultation.