Regenerative medicine is a cutting-edge form of treatment in orthopedics involving biological therapies to assist in your body’s natural healing process. We utilize your body’s platelets and stem cells and inject them into your injured areas. This has been shown to stimulate healing and speed repair for bone, muscle, joint, soft tissue and nerve injuries. Our therapies are primarily for patients who have failed conventional treatments such as anti-inflammatory medications, cortisone injections, physical therapy, surgery and rest.
These therapies are especially useful for patients who have acute injuries as well as patients with chronic injuries who remain injured or in pain and have not responded to traditional treatments such as anti-inflammatory medications, cortisone injection, physical therapy or surgery. Regenerative medicine can help a number of common conditions: arthritis, tendinitis/tendinosis, painful conditions of the spine, back and neck, knee pain, shoulder pain and joint pain of all types, sports injuries, meniscus tears, ligament sprains, plantar fasciitis, compression nerve injuries.
Our regenerative therapies include Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and Bone Marrow Concentrate (BMC - Stem Cell) therapies. These are being used to effectively alleviate a number of chronic orthopedic conditions, including arthritis, sports injuries, tendinitis/tendinosis, nerve injuries and more. Regenerative medicine can be particularly useful for patients who no longer find relief from traditional treatments like cortisone injections.
Regenerative medicine treatments activate your body’s own adult stem cells and blood platelets to stimulate healing and speed repair for bone, muscle, joint, soft tissue and nerve injuries.
We all have healing stem cells in our bodies. Primarily found in bone marrow and fatty tissue, these cells act as repairmen and can regenerate into the type of cell that is needed when injected into an injured area. There are several different kinds of stem cells. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are the type that we use in orthopedic treatments.
MSCs have the strongest potential to repair muscle, bone, joint and soft tissue injuries. These cells have the ability to self-replicate, reduce inflammation and differentiate into cartilage, bone, muscle and fat cells to help the body regenerate the lost tissue in the injured area.
Bone Marrow Concentrate (BMC) is a procedure in which the physician removes your body’s own stem cells and concentrates them into a sample to inject into the injured area(s). The high concentration of stem cells works directly at the injury site to increase the healing potential.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a concentrated form of the platelets in your blood, obtained by processing your blood in a special centrifuge. When an injury occurs, platelets naturally begin the healing process in your body. The platelets release signaling proteins that attract your body’s stem cells to the injured area. By injecting concentrated PRP into an area of concern, your body recognizes this site as a priority, working to heal more quickly and thoroughly.
Carefully guided ultrasound is used to find a sample of stem cells or platelets, extract them and then concentrate the tissue in a stem cell centrifuge. The sample is then injected at the site of an injured tendon, ligament, muscle, bone or joint, again using ultrasound to guide the procedure. A local anesthetic is used at the injection site. It’s similar to a steroid injection. All of this is done in one visit and takes a little more than an hour.
This decision, made by the physician, is individualized and based on personal experience as well as the experience of other practitioners around the world who perform similar procedures. Depending on the severity of the injury and/or disease some diagnoses require PRP alone, some BMC alone and others benefit from a combination of PRP/BMC.
There is some discomfort in obtaining the bone marrow aspirate, which is minimized by using light sedation, a local anesthetic and pain medication prior to the procedure. A varying degree of discomfort is also associated with the initial injection of the local anesthetic at the injured area; however there should be minimal pain during the administration of the PRP or BMC.
Usually the anesthetic lasts for a couple of hours. Discomfort may be experienced for the first 24 to 72 hours after injection, during the healing process. The physician may prescribe a pain medication to help you manage. Over the counter pain medications can also be used.
Regenerative medicine stimulates a healing response in your body that takes some time. Most patients typically experience pain relief and improved mobility within 2-6 weeks. The outcome of each treatment depends upon the site treated and severity of the injury as well as the patient’s own healing potential. The body may continue to heal at the injured site for up to six months after the procedure. Pain relief and increased mobility can last for several years.
Regenerative medicine is an alternative for those who have been recently injured or in chronic pain, as well as those who are looking to avoid surgery, prolong the need for surgery, or who just may not be a candidate for surgery. Some patients look to it as a way to avoid ongoing steroid treatment for pain. There are rarely age limits to these procedures. The physician will decide at the initial consultation if you are a candidate.
In most cases, these therapies are helping patients who have failed conventional treatments such as anti-inflammatory medications, cortisone injections, physical therapy, surgery and rest. The first step, is to find out if you are a candidate. We offer consultations to evaluate the injury and explore individualized treatment plans for each patient. The initial consultation is covered by insurance. The success rates of the regenerative procedures are multifactorial and will be discussed at your initial appointment.
Prolotherapy is an injection procedure used to treat connective tissue injuries of the musculoskeletal system that have not healed through conservative treatment. Also known as “proliferative” or sclerotherapy, the purpose of doing these procedures is to induce an inflammatory response in an attempt to promote healing to an area. We do this by injecting an irritant (usually dextrose, a sugar water) into the injured area. In many cases, this helps to reduce pain, improve function and stability of the treated area.
Prolotherapy has been helpful in treating:
• Arthritis
• Sacroiliac (SI) Joint pain
• Iliac crest pain
• Sternoclavicular Joint Pain
• Trigger points
• Chronic muscle pain
• Baker’s cysts of the knee
• Unstable Joints
Prolotherapy is considered a safe, and affordable alternative to surgery that allows patients to continue training and/or working during treatment. The treatments will typically be administered every one, two or three weeks, as determined by your physician.
Amniotic Fluid is commonly marketed as a "stem cell" treatment by many practices. They may claim that your own cells from bone marrow or PRP are "too old" to achieve an optimal outcome. A recent study was published that demonstrated that after the amniotic fluid is extracted, sterilized, cryopreserved and packaged that there are no live stem cells in the injection. In the United States using bone marrow is the gold standard for a true stem cell procedure. The article can be found here.
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