# A scan can explain wear but not every sore day *Read a Joint Scan | Regenerative Therapy Tempe* > Regenerative therapy Tempe guidance on what an X-ray or MRI can show, what the report means, and why the joint exam still matters. Morning soreness can stay steady even when an old X-ray looks worse, while walking may get harder despite an unchanged scan. The doctor needs both the scan report and the joint exam. An image can't show how the joint felt during the night. ## An X-ray shows bone and the space inside a joint An X-ray shows bone changes and the joint's position while you stand, but it doesn't show cartilage. Cartilage is the smooth covering on each bone end. When that covering thins, the space seen between the bones often narrows. The amount of narrowing may not match the soreness. Tell the doctor which movement starts the ache during a usual day. ## An MRI gives more detail when that detail may change care An MRI can show the smooth bone covering called cartilage. It also shows tendons, the strong cords joining muscles to bones, and other soft parts. A doctor may order one when the exam leaves a question about care. It may help before surgery, but another MRI isn't useful when its result won't change the next step. Ask what choice a new MRI would help settle. ## The clinic visit puts the scan beside the exam At QC Kinetix, regenerative treatments include joint shots that use the patient's blood. PRP means platelet-rich plasma. Blood is drawn and placed in a spinning machine, which separates a liquid with extra platelets. The clinic's medical provider uses that liquid for the joint shot. Medical provider means the health worker who performs the exam and care. No treatment choice comes before that exam. A scan alone can't tell whether this care suits the sore joint. ## Changes in comfort count even when a scan stays the same Soreness or movement may improve while the scan stays the same. A joint can also look different without feeling better. Choose one task, perhaps climbing stairs, and repeat it on the same staircase. Note how far you get before soreness starts and how you feel afterward. That simple note tells the doctor more than “better” or “worse.” ## Sources 1. The RESTORE trial - a participant-, injector- and assessor-blinded RCT of 288 adults aged 50+ with symptomatic medial knee OA (Kellgren-Lawrence 2-3) - compared three weekly intra-articular PRP injections against saline placebo, with co-primary endpoints of 12-month knee pain and medial tibial cartilage volume on MRI. PRP did not beat placebo on either. It is the single best-designed test of the specific claim that PRP changes joint structure, and it was negative. Bennell KL, et al. — [Effect of Intra-articular Platelet-Rich Plasma vs Placebo Injection on Pain and Medial Tibial Cartilage Volume in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: The RESTORE Randomized Clinical Trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34812863/). *JAMA*, 2021. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2021.19415. 2. A four-arm, multicentre, single-blind phase 2/3 randomized trial of 480 knee OA patients (KL II-IV) compared autologous bone marrow aspirate concentrate, autologous adipose stromal vascular fraction and allogeneic umbilical-cord-tissue mesenchymal stromal cells against a corticosteroid injection control. At 12 months NONE of the three orthobiologic injections was superior to another, or to the corticosteroid control, and none of the four groups showed a significant change in MRI osteoarthritis score from baseline. No procedure-related serious adverse events occurred. Mautner K, et al. — [Cell-based versus corticosteroid injections for knee pain in osteoarthritis: a randomized phase 3 trial.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37919438/). *Nature medicine*, 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s41591-023-02632-w. 3. A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis of 28 randomized trials of intra-articular mesenchymal stem cell-based therapies in knee OA found significant improvements in several pain and function measures (delta-VAS MD -1.67; KOOS pain MD 15.37) but NO significant difference in WOMAC, KOOS quality of life or the Lequesne index, and MRI-based WORMS scores were non-significant - indicating no consistent structural benefit. Its own conclusion: these therapies serve a primarily SYMPTOM-modifying rather than STRUCTURE-modifying role, with higher frequencies of local reactions to weigh against the symptomatic benefit. Awad G, et al. — [Efficacy and safety of intra-articular mesenchymal stem cell-based therapies in knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41863718/). *Clinical rheumatology*, 2026. DOI: 10.1007/s10067-026-08042-w. 4. The strongest recent POSITIVE signal: a meta-analysis of 10 RCTs (818 patients, KL I-III) found intra-articular MSC injection beat hyaluronic acid at 12 months on WOMAC total (MD -10.22), VAS (MD -1.31) and on the MRI Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (MD -26.01), all reaching the minimal clinically important difference, with no significant difference in adverse events. Recorded here at full weight: this result and the negative RESTORE and Mautner trials are both in the literature, and an honest page reports both. Jin WS, et al. — [Mesenchymal Stem Cells Injection Is More Effective Than Hyaluronic Acid Injection in the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis With Similar Safety: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39154667/). *Arthroscopy : the journal of arthroscopic & related surgery : official publication of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and the International Arthroscopy Association*, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.arthro.2024.07.027. 5. FORWARD, the longest disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug trial reported to date, gave intra-articular sprifermin (a recombinant FGF-18) or placebo to knee OA patients and followed 378 of them for 5 years. Sprifermin produced a significant, sustained dose-response INCREASE in total femorotibial cartilage thickness versus placebo - and WOMAC pain improved about 50% from baseline in ALL groups, including placebo. It is the cleanest demonstration in the literature that adding measurable cartilage and relieving pain are two different results, and that one does not deliver the other. Eckstein F, et al. — [Long-term structural and symptomatic effects of intra-articular sprifermin in patients with knee osteoarthritis: 5-year results from the FORWARD study.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33962962/). *Annals of the rheumatic diseases*, 2021. DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-219181. 6. A systematic review of the discordance between clinical and radiographic knee osteoarthritis: many people with severe-looking x-rays have little pain, and many with disabling pain have modest radiographic change. This is the reason a post-treatment scan is a poor proxy for how someone feels, in either direction. Bedson J, et al. — [The discordance between clinical and radiographic knee osteoarthritis: a systematic search and summary of the literature.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18764949/). *BMC musculoskeletal disorders*, 2008. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2474-9-116. ## Have the sore joint examined before choosing care At a consultation, a medical provider asks about past health, examines the joint, and discusses possible care. Medical provider is a broad term for the health worker you will see. Ask the clinic whether that person is a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. Bring earlier X-ray or MRI reports and a short note about the activity that hurts. You can leave knowing what may fit and what needs different care. Book a free consultation: --- Clear facts for a sore joint. Tempe guidance on sore joints, relief at home, reasons to seek care, scans, treatment choices, and nearby QC Kinetix care. Plain information about sore joints, care choices, scans, and nearby QC Kinetix care for Tempe readers. This Tempe publication is operated by the owners of the QC Kinetix Phoenix-area clinics; those clinic owners may benefit when a reader schedules care after using the site. © 2026 Tempe Regenerative Record. General education only; personal imaging and treatment decisions belong with a qualified clinician.