Get this: More than 2,000 years ago the ancient Greek doctor Hippocrates, who’s known as the father of medicine, would tie patients to a ladder upside down to stretch out and straighten their spine. Ouch!

A shoulder injury is painful and scary, making you wonder about the unknown: Will the pain go away on its own? Could it get worse if you do nothing? Will you ever be able to enjoy the activities you love – or even just routine daily tasks – pain free?

Many professional athletes have undergone stem cell therapy as an alternative to surgery in order to get back on the field. But even if you don’t make a living playing sports, stem cell therapy might be right for you, too.

First off, here’s what won’t happen during stem cell therapy: nobody will cut you open. Stem cell therapy is a non-surgical way to heal nagging injuries. Rather than making any incisions, a doctor injects stem cells into an area of pain like a bone or joint or, for certain conditions, puts them into the body intravenously.

Does nagging pain have you thinking about surgery? Before you go under the knife, you should know that you could feel better without going through an operation. More people are opting for non-invasive stem cell therapy to manage their pain. You should consider it, too.

It’s common for doctors who perform regenerative medicine therapy to take adult stem cells from a patient’s blood, fat tissue or bone marrow. But umbilical cord blood actually is a better source for the super cells that can stimulate healing and turn into new tissue.