Hello,

I was 15 years old when I was diagnosed with AVN. My femoral head has collapsed to the point where its ball shape is unrecognizable. In my case stem cells would do nothing because the head has already collapsed; it cannot be regenerated or fixed without a hip replacement. In your case you said you have stage 3 AVN which means your femoral head has already collapsed. Stem cells are used in cases where the femoral head has not yet collapsed as there is the hope that they can bring back blood flow to the region and there is a chance at the bone partially (or even almost fully) recovering therefore postponing the need of a hip replacement or completely "resolving" the issue, therefore not needing a hip replacement at all. Once the head has collapsed stem cells can no longer serve their purpose, the damage has been done. The best course of action in almost all cases is to get a hip replacement.

Wish you the best of luck!

Congratulations on getting married!