Regenerative Medicine - An Alternative Solution for Joint Pain
Living with chronic pain can disrupt your life and make it impossible for you to do your job, play with your kids, or remain independent.
The good news is there are innovative new regenerative medicine treatments that can help restore your quality of life. These treatments include:
- Platelet-rich plasma therapy
- Cell therapy
- Prolotherapy and Neural Prolotherapy
Overall, regenerative medicine can help restore your joints, muscles, tendons ligaments and nerves without surgery. It can also help you reduce your reliance on pain medications often associated with chronic pain.
What is Regenerative Medicine?
Regenerative medicine may be defined as the process of replacing or “regenerating” human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function. This process works by stimulating the body’s own repair mechanisms to heal tissues. This is accomplished by obtaining growth factors from the patient’s own blood. Blood contains the building blocks for life, including platelets. Platelets contain numerous growth factors which act by stimulating different cell mechanisms including:
Macrophage Chemotaxis – the type of white blood cell responsible for digesting foreign matter.
Angiogensis – the process of forming new blood vessels. Blood carries the oxygen and nutrients required for healthy tissue. Most joints do not work properly because they have limited blood flow.
Collagen Synthesis – a structural protein process that forms connective tissue. It helps create muscles, tendons, skin, bones, and joints.
Fibroblast Proliferation – a type of cell that is responsible for making the extracellular matrix and collagen. These two substances play a critical role in wound healing.
The Process
To obtain platelets, the patient’s blood is drawn. The blood is then spun in a centrifuge, which separates or fractionates the blood into three parts.
The layer of plasma, which contains the platelets, is collected. The platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is then injected into the same patient’s allocated joint or joints. Within days the patient may experience reduced pain; however, multiple applications are generally needed to achieve total pain relief. It’s important to note that all pain relief is permanent unless the site is reinjured.
Regenerative Medicine for Chronic Pain
Regenerative Joint Therapy, also known as prolotherapy, is an injection-based treatment used to treat chronic pain. A natural irritant is injected into the soft tissue of an injured joint, which kick-starts the body’s healing response.
Prolotherapy is not a surgical treatment and, because of this, it is also known as a regenerative joint injection or non-surgical ligament and tendon reconstruction.
While it is most commonly used for the back, doctors may also use prolotherapy in the following areas of the body:
- Knees
- Hips
- Shoulders
- Other joints and ligaments
Regenerative Medicine for Cosmetic Purposes
Regenerative Medicine can also be used for cosmetic purposes. To decrease the appearance of wrinkles, the patient’s own PRP is strategically injected into areas of the face. Over time, usually 4-6 weeks, the patient’s own biological matter begins to grow, resulting in long lasting volume. The result is subtler than other fillers, making it a great choice for anyone wanting to be discrete.
Why Choose Arizona Integrative Medical?
Regenerative Medicine requires a great amount of skill. To achieve desired results, you should choose a physician that is highly experienced. At Arizona Integrative Medical Center, we are proud to have very skilled specialists on staff who are highly experienced in alternative medicine techniques like Regenerative Medicine. To schedule a consultation, please click here.