The current state of regenerative medicine is the result of 19th and 20th century advances in tissue engineering, transplantation, cell biology, nanotechnology, molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, and more. Two predecessors to regenerative medicine — transplantation and replacement therapies — saw several important advances beginning in the 1950s and 60s.
Our body has the ability to naturally heal itself on so many different levels.
Think about when you break a bone; your body produces new cells to heal the damage. When you cut yourself, your body produces platelets to stop the bleeding. When you have a bruise, your body breaks down the blood and absorbs it. Plus, don’t forget about our immune system, our gut, and every other major body system. Our body’s self-healing abilities are absolutely remarkable!
Regenerative medicine harnesses this naturally healing process by applying engineering and life science principles to promote the regeneration of tissues and organs compromised by aging, damage, defect, or disease. The treatments restore structure and function without costly and painful surgery or a long recovery. It’s a natural complement to functional medicine, the foundation of our practice’s approach – which focuses on identifying and addressing the underlying cause of a health issue, while providing the body what it needs to stimulate its natural healing process.
The liver has a unique capacity among organs to regenerate itself after damage. A liver can regrow to a normal size even after up to 90% of it has been removed. Regenerative medicine harnesses our body’s powerful natural healing process.
What can regenerative medicine help with?
Regenerative medicine can help with these types of health issues:
Pain
Chronic Inflammation
Degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
Chronic infections such as Lyme disease and associated co-infections
Damaged tissue and joints
Osteoarthritis
Skin and hair rejuvenation
(though we don’t focus on this at our practice)
What are some of the benefits compared with other medical approaches?
- No surgery
- Less recovery time
- Faster healing
- No medications to manage symptoms (like pain)
- Low risk and less costly than surgery
How does it compare to a conventional approach that relies on medications and surgery?
Through conventional medicine, a person could manage pain, disease, and other chronic conditions with medication or medical devices. If the cause of the pain or disease isn’t addressed, one would be on medication for the rest of their life and their health would deteriorate. If the issue is addressed with invasive surgery, the recovery time can often be long and the results can be mixed.
Financial
If we’re comparing the financial cost of medications for the rest of one’s life and/or surgery, the cost for both can be much more than regenerative medicine treatments, supplementation, and diet/lifestyle adjustments.
Complications
Another factor to consider with surgery are complications. Blood clots, wound infection, and nerve damage to name a few. Without prophylaxis (preventive treatment), up to 80 percent of orthopedic surgical patients will develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT or blood clots in a leg/arm), and 10 to 20 percent will develop pulmonary embolism (PE or blood clots in the lungs). Even when proper prevention measures are taken, it is estimated that 3 percent of orthopedic surgical patients will develop DVT, and 1.5 percent will develop PE. Not to be alarming, but 10 to 30 percent of people affected by PE will die within one month of diagnosis. And about 33% of those who have had DVT will have long-term complications.
Limitations
And yet another is limitations after surgery. Mount Sinai recommends avoiding ‘sports that require jerking, twisting, pulling, or running’, covering a lot of sport activities. Numbers vary on the level of restriction/limitations and level of activity after surgery, ranging from 5% to 89% achieving a similar level as before surgery. With even the pro-surgery crowd reporting a 36.7% patient report on persistent restrictions.
So in summary, a conventional approach can take longer to recover, can have very serious complications, can be more limiting, and it costs a lot more even with insurance.
Up to 80 percent of orthopedic surgical patients will develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT or blood clots in a leg/arm).
What type of regenerative treatments are available at our practice?
All these regenerative therapies are provided in our office, on an outpatient basis. They are non-invasive, so there is no need for special travel arrangements and little to no recovery time. For injections and infusions, most patients can return to work the following day.
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)
PRP uses a high concentration of platelets from a patient’s own blood, delivered through a direct injection into the treatment area.
A2M Protein Concentrate with PRP
A2M with PRP uses a high concentration of proteins and platelets from a patient’s own blood, delivered through a direct injection into the treatment area.
Extracellular Vesicles (EV)
EV uses cell-derived membrane structures – containing lipids, RNAs (not to be confused with mRNA), metabolites, growth factors, and cytokines – from donated human umbilical cord blood or from the patient’s own blood. This treatment is administered through a direct injection into the treatment area or through an IV.
Prolozone
Prolozone uses a form of oxygen (which is ozone in gas form) along with other vitamins and minerals, delivered through a direct injection into the treatment area.
Cold Laser Therapy
Cold Laser uses a low level laser to deliver non-thermal photons of light directly on the skin to target the treatment area.
Nutritional IVs
Our nutritional IVs deliver preservative-free vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, and homeopathics through IV directly into your bloodstream, bypassing your digestive tract, helping it get to work quicker and more efficiently. One effective one we use is called Tissue Repair.
Additional support
A patient’s treatment protocol may also include supplements, treatment monitoring, and ongoing support. If initial and/or follow-up lab work is needed, that too can be done at our practice. We have everything you’ll need for continued support!
You can read more about each therapy by visiting our regenerative medicine services page.
So how do I get started?
If you have pain, inflammation, or damaged tissues/joints, not caused by another health issue that needs to primarily be addressed with functional medicine, you’ll start with a thorough discovery appointment with your provider. During this appointment, you’ll have a discussion about your current health and wellness and have a physical exam personalized to your needs. In some cases, x-rays or an MRI may be needed. From there, we’ll present individualized recommendations for your treatment, including therapies, supportive services, and supplementation.
If you’re already working with a functional medicine provider at our practice, and they’ve determined you would benefit from one of our regenerative therapies, you’d also start working with your provider to supplement your functional medicine treatment plan.
- https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/selfcare-instructions/taking-care-of-your-new-knee-joint#:~:text=You%20shouldn’t%20downhill%20ski,%2C%20playing%20tennis%2C%20and%20golfing.
- https://www.stoptheclot.org/about-clots/toolkit-for-knee-hip-replacement-patients/orthopedic-surgery-fact-sheet/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3445215/
- https://regenexx.com/blog/knee-replacement-activity-level/
- https://blog.cookmyosite.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-regenerative-medicine-1
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