Regenerative Medicine
Regenerative Medicine is a safe, effective, and innovative treatment option for joint pain, ligament and tendon injuries, back problems and many sports and work-related injuries. The advantages of regenerative therapy compared to other procedures include reduced downtime and improved outcomes. Regenerative medicine uses the patient’s own blood platelets to jumpstart the body’s natural healing process, delivering optimum pain relief, repairing ligament and tendon attachment sites and improving function of the injected areas.
How does Regenerative Medicine work?
Everyone’s blood is composed of the same main components: white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Platelets are the essential products of PRP therapy, and they heal acute and chronic injuries. Platelets are an army of cells that circulate in the blood. These blood products control bleeding, but they also have over 1,500 growth factors and special proteins that facilitate tissue repair and wound healing. The platelets trigger the healing process and reduce inflammation and pain.
During the procedure, a sample of blood is taken from a vein in your arm and then spun in a centrifuge in the office. The platelets can then be injected into or around the injured area, guidance with fluoroscopy (X-Ray) or ultrasound may be used to ensure proper placement of the PRP into the area of injury. At this stage, the PRP contains two to nine times the concentration of growth factors compared to normal human blood.
What can I expect after the injections?
After the injections, there is about a two-day recovery period. During recovery, it is normal to have some discomfort and swelling at the injection site, which resolves on its own. The day after the injection you may gradually return to normal physical activities. It is imperative to avoid NSAID products such as ibuprofen, Naprosyn, and aspirin 3-7 days before injection and 10 days after. Alcohol should also be avoided the day before injections due to its effect on platelets. Depending on the extent of injury and body region, you will often feel the results of the regenerative medicine after 2-8 weeks. Symptom relief and the healing process also continues for up to six months after the final treatment. Depending on injury and your response series of 2-5 injections may be given.
The goal of regenerative medicine is to harness the body’s own healing process to help treat chronic conditions that are not responding to other treatments, without resorting to surgery. Since your own blood products are being injected back into you, there is little risk of adverse reaction.
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