9Online Health Watch - Coral Therapy Robin Marsh Angela Buckelew Return to HealthWatch main page Coral Therapy for Bone Afflictions Ailing joints can make a simple walk across the room extremely painful. The hope comes from the ocean, in the form of sea coral. Researchers have developed a new technique that uses pieces of coral to treat problems such as non-healing bone fractures, as well as hip and knee replacements. Doctors extract special growth factors from the patient's blood, mix in a little coral, and create a paste that acts like a bone graft. Physicians say without the need for an actual bone graft, patients are able to heal faster with less pain and fewer complications.
Researchers say the surgery can be used anywhere in the body a bone graft is needed.