Regenerative Medicine in the Management of Musculoskeletal Pain: Mechanisms, Clinical Applications, and Future Directions

Musculoskeletal disorders represent a leading cause of global disability.Common causes of musculoskeletal pain include anomalies, repetitive strain, sports injuries, obesity, aging, inflammation, and degeneration.These conditions manifest as osteoarthritis, tendinopathy, low back pain, erosions, and fractures.Management of musculoskeletal pain uses multidisciplinary, multimodal approaches, including pharmacologic, non-pharmacologic, physical therapy, and surgical interventions.Conventional treatments such as simple analgesics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids, opioids in selected cases, and even surgery may provide symptomatic control at the expense of adverse effects such as gastrointestinal bleeding, addiction, dependence, and cartilage erosion.Regenerative medicine has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach for musculoskeletal pain encompassing modalities such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their derivatives, gene therapy, and tissue-engineered scaffolds.These interventions may alleviate musculoskeletal pain through multiple biological mechanisms, including modulation of inflammation, desensitization of nociceptors, enhancement of tissue repair, and stimulation of cellular regeneration.A targeted literature search was conducted between 2011 and 2026 across major databases, including PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Embase.The inclusion criteria focused on high-quality publications addressing the role of regenerative medicine modalities in musculoskeletal pain.The exclusion criteria included non-musculoskeletal pain, animal studies, and other publications such as editorials and case reports.This review shows promise and supports the potential role for regenerative therapies in the management of musculoskeletal conditions, but their effectiveness, safety, and feasibility vary substantially by modality, indication, product standardization, and study quality.The study identifies important knowledge gaps, limitations, and future directions in regenerative medicine, while also underscoring the need for better standardization and stronger comparative evidence.