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Hip Osteoarthritis Treatment in Lublin

PRP and SVF cell therapy for the knee, hip and other arthritic joints, plus a free X-ray or MRI review to see which stage you are at

Consultation and review of your scansFree

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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 osteoarthritis
(arthrosis)?

Arthrosis (osteoarthritis) means slow, chronic wear of the cartilage lining the joint. Healthy cartilage softens impact; when it thins, the bones rub on each other and the joint hurts, stiffens and moves less. Although flare-ups with swelling happen, this is a degenerative disease rather than an inflammatory one.

  • 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

The doctor decides on suitability once you have been examined and your scans have been reviewed

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: flu or a cold, fever, or skin inflammation over the joint being 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 examines the joint, reviews your X-rays, MRI or ultrasound and decides whether the procedure suits you. If you already have scans, you can send them before the visit.

Blood sample for PRP2

Blood sample for PRP

The nurse takes a little blood from a vein. Platelet-rich plasma with growth factors is prepared from this blood later.

Adipose tissue sample3

Adipose tissue sample

Under local anaesthetic, a small portion of adipose tissue (about 30 ml) is taken through a puncture on the abdomen or inner thigh. No stitches are needed.

Processing in a centrifuge4

Processing in a centrifuge

Spinning in a centrifuge splits the sample into layers, after which the stromal vascular fraction is isolated and mixed with the platelet-rich plasma.

Injection into the joint5

Injection into the joint

Using ultrasound guidance, the doctor injects the prepared material directly into the affected joint so it is placed precisely.

Follow-up6

Follow-up

Crutches and a hospital stay are not required. The doctor stays in touch after the procedure, following 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 blood and adipose tissue are the only materials used — nothing donor or synthetic

Cell therapy (SVF) from your own adipose tissue

From a small sample of your adipose tissue, the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) is isolated — a set of cells involved in repairing tissue. Mixed with your own plasma, it is then injected into the joint that is affected.

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

Early and moderate osteoarthritis is where it is mostly used — to slow cartilage wear and reduce friction between the surfaces of the joint.

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 blood sample provides plasma rich in platelets and growth factors; this is injected into the joint to help ease inflammation and create better conditions for the tissue to repair.

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

Often chosen for mild osteoarthritis, and paired with SVF if a stronger effect is needed.

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

Large joints and small joints — having reviewed your scans, the doctor chooses which joint, which method and how many injections

  • KneeKneeMeniscus issues, wearing cartilage, stairs and walking bring pain
  • HipHipEarly hip osteoarthritis, groin pain, limited rotation
  • ShoulderShoulderWear of the joint and nearby tendons, pain when lifting the arm
  • ElbowElbowPain linked to overuse or sports strain and worn joint surfaces
  • Hand and wrist jointsHand and wrist jointsStiff, painful small joints in the fingers and the wrist
  • AnkleAnklePain and stiffness after sprains and old injuries

Advantages

Why patients choose City Medical Centre

Treatment without surgery — our aim is to keep your own joint, not to replace it

Your own tissue

Your own tissue

Your own blood and adipose tissue are the only materials used — nothing donor or synthetic

No crutches

No crutches

Punctures, not incisions; local anaesthetic; no prolonged rehabilitation

Second opinion

Second opinion

Get a free, independent doctor's assessment of your X-rays, MRI or reports — simply send them over

Support after the procedure

Support after the procedure

We stay in touch after the procedure and follow the result, not just the day of the injection

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

Osteoarthritis treatment prices

The doctor names the cost after the consultation — it depends on the joint, the method and how advanced the osteoarthritis is

FAQ

Joint treatment: frequently asked questions

About the conditions

More about these conditions

Other services of our clinic

Choosing osteoarthritis treatment in Lublin

The stage matters most. At early and moderate stages, SVF and PRP injections aim to ease pain, reduce friction between the joint surfaces and slow cartilage wear. At the most advanced stage, the doctor will tell patients in Lublin honestly if joint replacement is the more realistic option.

PRP is often used for mild osteoarthritis, and SVF with PRP when a stronger effect is needed. The method and the number of injections are chosen for each patient in Lublin after the examination.

How much does arthrosis treatment cost in Lublin? The doctor names the price after assessing the stage from your X-ray or MRI and choosing PRP, SVF or a combination. Send a request or message us in any messenger.

Students, residents and a joint disease that follows age and load

Lublin is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland. The latest population figure is 326,700 (end of 2025), down from 334,681 at the 2021 census and well below the 1999 peak of 359,154. Students make up about 35% of the population, with the Catholic University of Lublin and Maria Curie-Sklodowska University as the main institutions. This is a city of young adults and of long-term residents. A population count says nothing about individual cartilage, but it explains why the same city can have two different kinds of joint complaint.

The first kind is the slow wear typical of later years, when cartilage thins, the joint is no longer cushioned and pain, crunching and stiffness appear. The second is joint trouble after an old injury, a sprain or sporting strain that never fully settled. The treatment described here is meant for both: early or moderate osteoarthritis, recovery after injuries and surgery, and joints that take a high load through sport or physical work.

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative disease, not an inflammatory one. That distinction matters in practice. Aching pain on movement, crunching and stiffness after rest point towards cartilage wear. Pain at rest and at night, swelling, redness and warmth point towards arthritis, which is treated differently. If you are unsure which one you have, a doctor reviews your X-rays, MRI or ultrasound during a free online consultation and sorts this out before anything else.

The treatment itself uses your own material only. A small blood sample is processed into platelet-rich plasma (PRP). For cell therapy, about 30 ml of adipose tissue is taken under local anaesthetic through a puncture, and the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) is isolated in a centrifuge. The mixture goes into the joint under ultrasound guidance. Nothing donor or synthetic is used, and no stitches are needed. A coordinator answers on WhatsApp and Telegram around the clock, so you can start by sending the scans you already have.

Loess gorges, slopes and the load on knees and hips

The Bystrzyca river, a tributary of the Wieprz, crosses the city and divides it into two parts. The western part has varied relief and loess gorges, and the eastern part is flat. The city stands on the Lublin Upland, and its height above sea level ranges from 163.6 m at the lowest point to 235.0 m at the highest. That is a difference of roughly 70 m inside one municipality. Polish sources give a slightly wider range of 163 to 238 m.

These figures describe terrain, not anyone's health, so they should not be read as a cause of arthritis. They do suggest a practical question for the consultation. Knees and hips carry the greatest load, and the doctor will ask what your everyday movement looks like: whether you climb or descend a lot, stand through your working day, or carry weight. Knee pain on stairs or after walking, with meniscus trouble, is one of the typical pictures the treatment addresses. Groin pain and limited rotation point to the hip.

Your answers help the doctor decide on the joint, the method and the number of injections. Small joints are treated too, including the fingers and wrist, the elbow, the shoulder and the ankle. Ankle pain and stiffness after sprains and old injuries is a common reason to send scans.

The doctor describes the stage of osteoarthritis in four steps, from early thinning of the cartilage to severe wear. Injection treatment is most often considered in the early and middle stages. If the joint space has almost disappeared, a lasting effect cannot be expected, and the doctor will say so frankly. In that situation a joint replacement may be the more realistic option, and you will hear it at the start rather than after a procedure.

Frost, damp and short days: how the cold season affects stiff joints

The 1991–2020 climate normals describe Lublin as humid continental. January has a mean maximum of -0.1 °C and a mean minimum of -4.9 °C. February runs from -4.2 °C to 1.6 °C, and December from -3.3 °C to 1.2 °C. The record low is -33.7 °C, set in January. Relative humidity is highest in December (89.5%) and November (89.0%). The city has on average 67.5 snowy days a year, and December brings only 30.3 hours of sunshine against about 263 hours in June and July.

Many people with osteoarthritis report that stiffness feels worse in such months. Whether weather changes the disease itself is not something the treatment description claims. What can be said is practical. Short, dark, icy days reduce walking and exercise, and reduced movement is the opposite of what a joint needs. Suitable activity builds the muscles that unload the joint and feeds the cartilage better. For the cold season, the exercises that suit osteoarthritis are swimming, water aerobics, cycling, Nordic walking and yoga. Running on hard surfaces, jumping, heavy lifting and sudden movements are best avoided, and slippery pavements make sudden movements more likely.

The recovery timeline helps you choose a time of year. In the first week the treated joint may ache a little more, which is an expected reaction. The pain usually eases by about one month, and mobility and activity improve around three months. The full effect develops at about six months. Some patients notice early changes after 2–3 weeks. These figures are averages, and the doctor confirms the plan for your joint.

A procedure in late autumn therefore reaches its improving phase in the weeks when daylight is returning. One in spring reaches it in the months when Zemborzyce Lake in the south of the city, an artificial reservoir created by damming the Bystrzyca, is used for recreation. Neither schedule is better in itself, so the choice depends on your own plans. There are no crutches and no hospital stay, so the cold season is not an obstacle either.

Body weight, public waiting lists and what an online consultation adds

Weight is one of the factors on which the duration of the result depends, together with the stage of the condition and your activity. Poland's figures show why this is worth discussing. In 2019, 58.2% of adults had overweight or obesity (the EU average was about 53%), and obesity measured by BMI was 18%. A BMI above 40 occurs in about 300 thousand people, and above 35 in over 1.5 million. The Supreme Audit Office (NIK), using 2022 data, counted 481 thousand adults with obesity in Lubelskie. That is 29.0%, against 29.8% nationally. The NIK chart is titled as a share of patients with overweight and obesity, so it is not identical to prevalence. Even so, weight clearly concerns a large part of the population.

For severe obesity there is a public route. Bariatric surgery is a service financed by the National Health Fund (NFZ). Qualification is at a BMI of 40 kg/m² or higher from age 18, or at 35–40 kg/m² where weight loss may improve an obesity-related disease. The national pilot programme describes a pre-operative phase of usually 3–6 months with a multidisciplinary team. Controlling weight is also part of what the doctor will mention for joints, alongside early diagnosis and exercise.

The NFZ pathway for joints has its own rules. Services not listed in the NFZ catalogues are not financed by it. Within the listed range, treatment is in most cases free for the insured patient. If you are not insured, you pay the full cost of services. Health insurance contributions are taken as a percentage of personal income.

Waiting lists add another consideration. A patient may be on the waiting list of only one provider for a given service, and the original referral must be delivered within 14 working days of entering the list. A reply from the Ministry of Health in August 2025 gave average waits for joint replacement: for the hip, from 195 days in 2022 to 172 days in 2024, and for the knee, from 242 to 214 days. The source concentrates on one other voivodeship and does not clearly state whether the figures are national, so they should be read as an indication only.

Against that background, the free online consultation works as an additional opinion. It does not enter you on any list, and it does not cancel a referral. A doctor reviews your scans, tells you the stage and says whether injection treatment without surgery is realistic or whether a replacement is the more honest answer. The cost of treatment is quoted after that consultation. It depends on the joint, the method and the stage.

Planning the consultation around the Polish calendar

Because the first step is online, the calendar matters less than it would for an appointment in person. Still, a few local dates affect how quickly you can collect scans, for example from a radiology department or from a doctor you already see. Poland has 14 public non-working days: 1 January, 6 January, Easter Sunday and Monday, 1 May, 3 May, Pentecost Sunday, Corpus Christi, 15 August, 1 November, 11 November, 24 December (since 2025), and 25 and 26 December. A long weekend around 1 May and 3 May, or the days around Christmas, can delay the release of images or reports. The coordinators on WhatsApp and Telegram work round the clock, but an X-ray disc or an MRI report depends on the place that holds it.

The city's events calendar is a second reason for planning. Night of Culture falls on the first Saturday night of June, followed by East of Culture in late June. Carnaval Sztukmistrzow and Urban Highline Festival take place in the last days of July. The Jagiellonian Fair is held in late August and the St Nicholas Day Folk Music Festival in the first decade of December. Student Culture Days last about three weeks between May and June. If you want to be walking comfortably at one of these, count back from the date. Around three months are needed for mobility to improve, and about six for the full effect.

Practically, preparation comes down to a short list:

- X-ray images, which remain the main method and show the stage.

- MRI, which gives a detailed picture of cartilage and soft tissues.

- Ultrasound, which shows inflammation and fluid in the joint.

- Recent blood test results, which help rule out inflammatory disease.

Anything you cannot find can be arranged after the first conversation.

Some situations postpone treatment. These are a raised temperature, a cold or flu, and inflamed skin above the target joint. Cancer, pregnancy, blood clotting disorders, acute infection (including infection in or near the joint) and a flare-up of a serious chronic illness mean it is not suitable. Mention any of these to the coordinator at the start.

Does the cold, humid winter in Lublin make osteoarthritis worse?

The climate figures show a cold season with January averaging -0.1 °C at its warmest and -4.9 °C at its coldest, humidity near 89% in November and December, and little sunshine. The treatment description makes no claim that weather alters the disease. What is practical is that cold days reduce movement, and exercise such as swimming, cycling or Nordic walking helps the muscles that unload the joint. The doctor can plan the timing with you at the consultation.

Which season is more convenient for the procedure if I live in Lublin?

There is no ideal month. After the procedure the joint may ache a little more for about a week, pain usually eases by about a month, mobility improves around three months and the full effect develops at about six months. A late-autumn procedure reaches its improving phase as daylight returns, and a spring one in the months of outdoor activity. The doctor confirms the plan for your joint.

Can the online consultation replace an NFZ referral?

No, they are separate. The online consultation is a free review of your scans by a doctor and does not enter you on any waiting list. NFZ rules are separate: a patient may be on the waiting list of only one provider for a given service, and the original referral must be delivered within 14 working days of entering the list. Keep any referral you hold, and treat the online opinion as additional information.

Will NFZ cover this treatment?

NFZ finances services that are listed in its catalogues, and services outside them are not financed. Whether a particular procedure falls within that scope is something to check with NFZ or your referring doctor. The cost of our treatment is quoted after the consultation and depends on the joint, the method and the stage of osteoarthritis. The consultation itself and the review of your scans are free.

Does body weight matter for the result, and what if my BMI is high?

Yes, body weight is one of the factors on which the duration of the result depends, along with the stage, activity and other things. Weight control is part of what the doctor recommends for joints. For severe obesity NFZ finances bariatric surgery at a BMI of 40 kg/m² or above, or at 35–40 kg/m² when it may improve an obesity-related disease. The doctor will tell you honestly how weight affects your plan.

Are public holidays a problem for sending scans?

Coordinators answer on WhatsApp and Telegram round the clock, including holidays. The delay is usually at the place that holds your images or reports. Poland has 14 public non-working days, so around Easter, 1 and 3 May, 1 November and Christmas it is sensible to request your X-ray, MRI or ultrasound earlier. Existing results are reviewed by the doctor free of charge.

I am a student, or I play sport. Is the treatment relevant for me?

It can be, if joint pain, crunching or stiffness has lasted, painkillers help only briefly, or you are recovering after an injury or surgery. High load on the joints through sport or physical work is one of the listed situations in which the treatment is considered. The doctor first reviews your scans and decides on the joint and the method. If the condition is inflammatory rather than degenerative, the doctor will tell you that this requires a different approach.

What should I prepare before the first message?

Gather whatever you have: X-ray, MRI or ultrasound images and reports, plus recent blood test results. Note which joint hurts, when the pain appears (on movement, at rest or at night), how long morning stiffness lasts, and any past injuries. Tell the coordinator about a raised temperature, a cold, skin inflammation near the joint, or any of the conditions that make the treatment unsuitable.