REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

Regenerative Medicine for pain management

Rather than using outside drugs, or injecting outside substances, the concept of “Regenerative Medicine” is a new umbrella term for advanced methods of reversing tissue damage and REGENERATING the body by using the body’s OWN HEALING SUBSTANCES.

The term “stem cell” has varied connotations. Related to orthopedics, stem cell treatment is essentially using what cells are already in your own body, only increasing the effectiveness of your own cells.

Why would a person explore regenerative medicine and stem cell treatment over knee replacement surgery? The main reason is that if a person is relatively young, such as below age 50, many orthopedic surgeons will be concerned that the person may outlive the lifespan of the artificial knee joint which may be 15 to 20 years. This would mean the patient at age 70 would have to undergo a major knee reconstruction surgery. Consequently, many orthopedic surgeons try to delay a knee replacement surgery for young patients.

Other reasons include:

1. It’s a minimally invasive outpatient procedure not requiring a hospital
2. There are less complications and risks than surgery
3. There is minimal post procedural recovery discomfort and time
4. There is no use of general anesthesia
5. There is no risk of rejection since the stem cells are your own, harvested from your own body.
6. Stem cell treatment has proven to be effective for repairing sprained knees, tendon injuries, shoulder injuries, and other orthopedic ligament issues.

The issue related to stem cells is that some doctors have limited expertise in this field and are injecting dead stem cells into a person which is of no value. This has caused the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to issue consumer warnings about stem cell treatment. In this respect, the patient should become very educated about effective stem cell treatment and seek out true specialists in regenerative medicine for these new alternative treatments for pain care and recovery from injury.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy for pain management

Plasma is the clear portion of the blood in which all the other blood components such as platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells travel. Platelets are part of the blood that circulate around the body ready to help stop the bleeding should you have a cut, broken bone or injury that bleeds internally. Besides containing clotting factors, the platelets release growth factors and proteins that help start the healing process of arthritis knees. PRP contains a concentrated amount of platelets that release potent quantities of these growth factors and proteins to stimulate a robust healing response.

Platelet rich plasma, commonly referred to as PRP, is the patient’s own human blood that is spun down in a centrifuge and separated producing a concentration of platelets above the natural values commonly found in their blood. Platelet rich plasma can have as much as eight times more than the normal amount of platelets.

The centrifuge is used to remove red blood cells to create a plasma that has a greater concentration of growth factors than normal blood. PRP has been used in a variety of fields over the years, including plastic surgery, sports medicine and dermatology. Some professional athletes have found relief from tendonitis and overuse syndrome through PRP. The goal of PRP therapy is to enhance the body’s natural ability to repair itself to speed healing and shorten recovery time from muscle, ligament, tendon and joint injuries.

Platelets are the clotting cells within human blood that have great potential in boosting the healing of damaged muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These platelets contain natural growth hormones and proteins that tell your tissues to increase rebuilding to enhance your recovery and help stop pain symptoms.

This subsequent concentration of platelets from the patient’s own blood is then injected back into the person at the site of injury. This platelet rich plasma can then aid healing. PRP can be especially helpful for long-standing chronic injuries that have taken a long time to heal. Injecting concentrated platelets at the site of injury can accelerate the body’s own healing response.

There are some conflicting studies about the value of PRP, and which type of centrifuges may produce the optimal plasma. No studies to date have documented any adverse effects associated with PRP. So in that sense, there is no downside to the therapy. Because the injected platelets are produced from a person’s own body, there typically is no issue related to rejection or transmitting disease.

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