I have written before about the many ways our body’s natural substances can aid and expedite recovery via injection. Platelet-rich plasma is just one of the revolutionary advances in knee pain management that has earned attention in recent years, for instance, while stem cell therapies continue to gain momentum.
This recent video from the Boston Globe highlights one such approach; dubbed Regenics, it is a proprietary stem cell treatment designed to ease the inflammation and distress of shoulder injury, and promote faster healing:
I am proud to report that my San Diego orthopedic surgery practice remains at the forefront of innovative procedures in pain management and shoulder surgery. If you’d like to learn more about the best options to restore natural mobility and function, please contact the orthopedic shoulder surgery experts today.
Knee surgery is a common solution to intractable orthopedic disorders such as ACL tears, meniscus tears and isolated cartilage injuries. Yet despite the fact that such procedures have good success rates, there remains a small but stubborn percentage of patients who experience lingering discomfort even after their projected recovery time has elapsed.
This is especially common in total knee replacement surgeries, which involve equipment designed to exist permanently in this highly trafficked joint. Now orthopedic surgery specialists are refining the tools used to map and fit these medical devices to your body’s natural contours:
Careful fitting and expert aftercare are essential to ensure your knee surgery procedure works as well as you need it to. To learn more about how to get started with some of the most advanced surgical techniques in Southern California, please contact the San Diego orthopedic knee surgery experts today.
Stem cell therapies are hardly new. In fact, they are perennially on the cusp of finding their way into mainstream orthopedic medicine. The problem has long been a lack of reproducible findings – and a prohibitive cost.
At least one half of that equation may finally be getting addressed. Doctors are seeing more consistent results with certain stem cell therapies for orthopedic issues such as knee pain and shoulder pain. The process has remained largely unchanged since the technology was invented/discovered:
Doctors use a needle to extract bone marrow from the crest of the hip bone. It’s then sent to a lab, where it is spun down to get at the layer of stem cells — cells that have the potential to become any type of cell.
The stem cells are then combined with the patient’s platelets, a type of blood cell involved in healing. Then, it’s given back to the patient. The idea is to have the stem cells turn into new tissue and improve pain and function. . . .
Typically, this is done for various inflammatory tendon problems, though it can be used for hips, knees, shoulders, ankles, and spine. Patients usually notice improvement by three months, with full benefit in one year.
It is a promising approach, although the body of literature on stem cell therapies versus traditional knee surgeries remains in its infancy. The best bet if you’re experiencing chronic knee pain: Visit a San Diego Orthopedic Surgery Center and get a full workup. You will be counseled on the risks and rewards of the various treatment options available to you, based on your unique situation. We provide PRP (platelet rich plasma) injections among the other various conservative treatment measures. In addition, we are able to provide the complete array of surgical procedures. This broad and comprehensive approach to treating your pain and dysfunction puts us in a unique position of being able to provide you an honest appraisal of your options. Our goal is to make you better!
