Austin Ortho + Biologics: Kelly Cunningham, MD

01/22/2026

Hitting the slopes this season? Keep in mind these tips to prevent injuries on the slopes:

As a 15-year US Olympic Men’s Ski Team physician and orthopedist, every year during the winter months I treat many ski & snowboard injuries. As traveling doctor for the team, I accompanied the athletes throughout the US, Canada and Europe on the World Cup tour and was responsible for the triage, stabilization, and treatment of these world-class skiers. One of the most frequent questions I get this time of year from my patients who ski is, “How can I avoid hurting myself on the ski slopes?” So, what do I tell recreational skiers about staying healthy while on the slopes?

First and foremost, adjust to the altitude in your first few days. While there are medications that will improve your blood oxygen, they require a prescription and can have side affects. Perhaps the easiest to take along are low-dose aspirin, ginko biloba or Humann Superbeets chews and are safe (unless allergic) and easy to ingest.

Low-level exercise and lots of water (especially during the first night) are also key, as is abstinence from alcohol during the first 24 hours at altitude. Modern skis, boots, and bindings are universally safe now, unlike in decades past. Multi-release bindings help you come out of your skis safely in a fall and with less stress on your knees, the most commonly injured joint in a skier. Make sure they are set correctly. Speaking of knees, in most solid, intermediate skiers, unlike beginners (learning to stop) and racers (ACL injury from shear forces), serious knee injuries are actually quite rare.

The best way to protect yourself from ski injury is:
· get in good “ski-shape”
· ski within your limits
· stay relaxed but focused
· watch out for that last, fatigued run of the afternoon
· if you fall, fall forward and throw your hands in front of you
· if an injury happens, we are available for same- & next-day appointments and have for years worked closely with ski resort physicians to coordinate care.

And always, always, wear a helmet!

Kelly Cunningham, MD
Austin OrthoBiologics
Board-certified orthopedic surgeon offering expert consultation and treatment
-Sports injuries of the knee, shoulder, and hip, including arthroscopic surgery
-Regenerative, non-surgical options for early arthritis
-Innovative biologic therapies including cell-based (“stem cell”) and PRP treatments
austinorthobio.com
(512)-410-0767

11/03/2025

Using the DataBiologics platform, two year follow-up numbers are available - and the results are impressive!

Previous data review has shown good pain relief and improved activity from PRP and cellular therapy/“Stem Cell“ biologic treatment, with patients counseled that results may last for up to a year.
But now…
Compared to 8000 US and Canadian knee patients with similar treatments, our 125 study patients experienced CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT BETWEEN ONE AND TWO YEARS after treatment, which generally required only ONE INJECTION.

Notice the “shape of the curve” on the included graphs; BLUE line is ours.
This improvement was noted in both pain reduction and activity level, the latter as measured by KOOS.
[KOOS is a knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score to evaluate pain and stiffness with functional “activities of daily living” and is a patient-reported measure.]
We had a 2/3 response rate over the two years of our questionnaire, and are pleased to share these consistent results.

After TEN YEARS of success in helping patients with their pain and function, let us evaluate your knee, shoulder, hip or elbow pain and find an answer that may delay or even avoid major surgery or joint replacement.

Kelly Cunningham, MD
Austin OrthoBiologics
Board-certified orthopedic surgeon offering expert consultation and treatment
-Sports injuries of the knee, shoulder, and hip, including arthroscopic surgery
-Regenerative, non-surgical options for early arthritis
-Innovative biologic therapies including cell-based (“stem cell”) and PRP treatments

austinorthobio.com
(512)-410-0767

09/23/2025

Thanks to DataBiologics for featuring my work in regenerative medicine! It's been rewarding to see how these innovations can improve patient outcomes and quality of life, and their commitment to tracking these outcomes is a big part of helping us drive better recoveries and stronger results for patients.

Read the full article here:
https://www.databiologics.com/blogs/kelly-cunningham-texas

Kelly Cunningham, MD
Board-certified orthopedic surgeon
Austin OrthoBiologics
austinorthobio.com
(512)-410-0767

Expert, board-certified orthopedic surgery consultation and treatment in:
-Sports medicine: knee, shoulder, and hip injuries
-Regenerative medicine, non-surgical treatment options for early arthritis
-Cell-based "stem cell" & PRP modalities, surgery & in-office applications

Dr. Kelly Cunningham uses DataBiologics to validate his orthobiologic protocols with real-world outcomes. By benchmarking against national data, he shows faster pain relief, longer-lasting results, and fewer repeat treatments—helping position biologics as a reliable alternative to surgery and conv...

08/25/2025

Can I avoid surgery with Biologics?
Dr. Kelly Cunningham, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon based in Austin, TX, discusses the usages of surgical treatments with biologics. Dr. Cunningham specializes in OrthoBiologics, natural treatments that harvest the pain-relieving cells and products of your own body to provide pain relief and improve activity.

Watch the full interview about OrthoBiologics here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ7dVHE7xuE&t=0s

To schedule a consultation with Dr. Cunningham, visit https://austinorthobio.com or call (512)-410-0767.

07/21/2025

Can PRP or cell-based ("stem cell") therapy help shoulder pain?
Watch Dr. Cunningham discuss shoulder conditions and treatments in detail. Dr. Cunningham specializes in OrthoBiologics, natural treatments that harvest the pain-relieving cells and products of your own body to provide pain relief and improve activity.

Watch the full interview about OrthoBiologics here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ7dVHE7xuE&t=0s

Kelly Cunningham, MD
Board-certified orthopedic surgeon
Austin OrthoBiologics
austinorthobio.com
(512)-410-0767

Expert, board-certified orthopedic surgery consultation and treatment in:
-Sports medicine: knee, shoulder, and hip injuries
-Regenerative medicine, non-surgical treatment options for early arthritis
-Cell-based "stem cell" & PRP modalities, surgery & in-office applications

06/23/2025

I am honored to be recognized as a Top Performer by DataBiologics. This award is presented to providers who have demonstrated the greatest performance outcomes in blood-derived orthobiologics, such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and cell-based ("stem cell") therapies. I am grateful to be recognized among such a top-flight group of orthobiologic clinicians


Kelly Cunningham, MD
Board-certified orthopedic surgeon
Austin OrthoBiologics
austinorthobio.com
(512)-410-0767

Expert, board-certified orthopedic surgery consultation and treatment in:
-Sports medicine: knee, shoulder, and hip injuries
-Regenerative medicine, non-surgical treatment options for early arthritis
-Cell-based "stem cell" & PRP modalities, surgery & in-office applications

04/21/2025

A lot of confusion over biologic "birth products" and exosomes —
these are products used in regenerative medicine, distinct from your own cell-based “stem cells” and PRP (platelet rich plasma).

Perhaps due to recent changes to NIH, HHS, and especially FDA leadership with the new administration, there seems to be renewed interest in birth products, such as cord blood, placental tissue and Wharton's jelly, and their potential as orthobiologic treatments. At Austin OrthoBiologics, we have seen an increase in phone calls and questions about these products.

For numerous reasons, FDA regulations essentially prohibit the orthopedic/joint injection of "birth products" unless used in an FDA-approved IND clinical trial. These trials are lengthy and very expensive, and therefore are few & far between....

Same rules apply for exosomes, another form of biologic “packaging“ to deliver these products. Noted regenerative medicine expert Chris Centeno MD states “exosomes require full FDA approval with clinical trials. However, no exosome product being sold today has that type of biologic drug approval…The myth spread by many sales reps selling exosomes has been that if the company has an FDA IND and permission to perform a clinical trial on a specific disease, that company can sell its exosome products to the public. That contention is, of course, fiction…”

The FDA position has been clear on this issue since at least 2022.
The companies that sell these FDA–prohibited products are well aware of the restrictions - many have received FDA warning letters and more.
However, the doctors asked to consider injecting these may not be.

It is our responsibility as healthcare providers to keep up with the regulations of a high growth and rapidly evolving specialty, as we at Austin OrthoBiologics strive to do. This is not a “static” area of medicine. Changes to treatment protocols will occur and regulations will follow.

Currently and perhaps most importantly –
We find no reason to skirt regulations in our treatment protocols - your own cell-based therapy "stem cells” and PRP for orthopedic, joint pain, and early arthritis indications work well at just about any age. Our experience of 10 years and over 2500 procedures with well-documented successful patient outcome studies (re:databiologics.com) bears this out.

Feel free to reach out to us in Austin with any questions.

Kelly Cunningham, MD
Board-certified orthopedic surgeon
Austin OrthoBiologics
austinorthobio.com
(512)-410-0767

-Expert, board-certified orthopedic surgery consultation and treatment in:
-Sports medicine, knee & shoulder injuries, arthroscopic surgery
-Regenerative medicine, non-surgical treatment options for early arthritis
-Cell-based "stem cell" & PRP modalities, surgery & in-office applications

03/10/2025

Last week, I was honored to be the recipient of a Top Performer award at the Interventional Orthobiologics Foundation conference. This award is presented to providers who have demonstrated the greatest performance outcomes in blood-derived orthobiologics, such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and cell-based therapies. I am grateful to be recognized among such a top-flight group of orthobiologic clinicians!

Kelly Cunningham, MD
Board-certified orthopedic surgeon
Austin OrthoBiologics
austinorthobio.com
(512)-410-0767

Expert, board-certified orthopedic surgery consultation and treatment in:
-Sports medicine, knee & shoulder injuries
-Regenerative medicine, non-surgical treatment options for early arthritis
-Cell-based "stem cell" & PRP modalities, surgery & in-office applications

02/17/2025

What is cell-based, or "stem cell", therapy? Dr. Kelly Cunningham, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, discusses it as a treatment option for joint pain and arthritis.

For more details about OrthoBiologics or to schedule a consultation with Dr. Cunningham, visit https://austinorthobio.com or call (512)-410-0767.

Watch the full interview on OrthoBiologics here: https://youtu.be/ZZ7dVHE7xuE?si=pLaKM0gLHWtx3G4g

02/10/2025

Can PRP or cell-based ("stem cell") therapy help knee pain?

Watch Dr. Cunningham discuss knee conditions and treatments in detail. Dr. Cunningham specializes in OrthoBiologics, natural treatments that harvest the pain-relieving cells and products of your own body to provide pain relief and improve activity.

Watch the full interview on OrthoBiologics here: https://youtu.be/ZZ7dVHE7xuE?si=pLaKM0gLHWtx3G4g

To schedule a consultation with Dr. Cunningham, visit https://austinorthobio.com or call (512)-410-0767.

01/27/2025

Is PRP right for you?
Watch Dr. Cunningham discuss platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections in detail. Dr. Cunningham specializes in OrthoBiologics, natural treatments that harvest the pain-relieving cells and products of your own body to provide pain relief and improve activity.

Watch the full interview on OrthoBiologics here: https://youtu.be/ZZ7dVHE7xuE?si=pLaKM0gLHWtx3G4g

To schedule a consultation with Dr. Cunningham, visit https://austinorthobio.com or call (512)-410-0767.

12/30/2024

Review of over 100 “consecutive“ knee patients who had received injections of PRP (platelet rich plasma) or BMC “Stem Cell” Therapy (purple graph line), compared to a national database of over 6000 patients with similar treatment (black graph line).

KOOS-Jr is a commonly used pre-and post-treatment measure for knee pain and activity level.

Takeaway: Our results are BETTER than the Patient Reported Outcomes of similar treatments from around the country (quite favorable as well; thanks DataBiologics.com).

Dr. Cunningham discusses knee treatments in greater detail at: https://youtu.be/iZqIGV-WJm0

As a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with 30 years of experience in Austin, Dr. Cunningham can review your options and provide supporting data for an a variety of treatments, with or without surgery.

Austin OrthoBiologics

austinorthobio.com 512–410–0767

Kelly Cunningham MD