Blog Archives - Phoenix Regenerative Medicine

PRP Injection for Knee Injuries

Unfortunately, knee injuries are all too common. They happen to star athletes, they happen to weekend warriors, and they happen to sedentary people. Knee injuries can range from severely torn ligaments and tendons to minor meniscus tears. However, even a minor knee injury can make it difficult to perform normal everyday activities and can prevent individuals from exercising or returning to competitive sports. The addition of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to a regimen of physical therapy with or without surgical repair can dramatically speed healing. PRP injection treatments are only becoming more and more popular, and for good reason.

Addressing Knee Injuries

Once a knee injury occurs, the first step is a diagnosis. We will use a history, a clinical examination, and imaging (ultrasound, MRI, and/or arthroscopy) to determine what has been damaged and the extent of the damage. In some cases, surgery is necessary, but in all cases, physical therapy is vitally important to restore normal knee function. The recovery from a knee injury normally takes months, regardless of whether surgery was performed. A PRP injection treatment can speed recovery and help to restore full function to injured knees.

What Is PRP?

PRP is derived from the patient’s own blood. A normal blood sample is taken in a quick in-office procedure and the platelets are concentrated and isolated from the blood cells. Platelets are small, formed elements that aren’t actually cells; instead, they are basically pouches full of clotting factors, growth factors, and cytokines. When ruptured during an injury, they induce clotting and healing and attract immune cells and stem cells to the site of the injury. Doctors have found that if platelets are concentrated and applied to surgical sites or injected into injured joints, they release their growth factors and cytokines and induce healing of the local area.

Is the Treatment Safe?

Since PRP is prepared from the patient’s own blood, there is no risk of a reaction or of transmitting infections. PRP injection treatments are generally believed to be very safe. Talk to our team at Phoenix Regenerative Medicine to learn more. Contact us today to schedule a consultation in Phoenix.

Stem Cell Injections: Who Is a Candidate?

Stems cells are created by your body in order to heal and restore itself. Depending on how they’re needed, they can turn into blood cells, skin cells, or anything in between. In recent years, researchers have discovered that stem cell injections can help alleviate pain associated with your joints and back. Whether this pain is caused by an injury or by a condition like arthritis, this revolutionary new procedure shows great promise as an effective and long-term pain reliever.

If you’re dealing with joint pain of your own, how do you know if this is the right treatment option for you? Here are three signs that you might be a good candidate for a stem cell injection.

Other Treatment Options Have Been Ineffective
If you’ve been dealing with joint pain for any significant amount of time, it’s likely that you’re already familiar with a number of different treatment options. If, for whatever reason, your previous attempts to alleviate pain have not been successful, stem cell injections could be the answer you’re looking for.

Unlike traditional methods of treatment that attempt to impose an external solution on an internal problem, these injections treat joint pain from the inside out. By using stem cells harvested from your own body, the injections allow it to restore itself from within.

You Want to Avoid a More Invasive Procedure
For many years, if you were dealing with major joint pain, the only viable treatment option was replacement surgery. However, the prospect of undergoing such an invasive procedure has led some patients to do nothing at all. For them, the risks and cost of surgery were harder to bear than the pain they experienced on a daily basis.

Pain is keeping you from doing the things you love.
Many patients who turn to stem cell injections were once active, outgoing people. But as their pain worsened, they found themselves unable to participate in the activities that they loved and that gave purpose to their lives. If you’re tired of pain holding you back from the things you want to do, stem cell injections can help you reclaim your mobility and your life. Pain doesn’t have to hold you back forever—help is possible.

Are you ready to learn more about the exciting ways that stem cell injections can help reduce your pain and improve your quality of life? Contact us today to speak with a specialist to see if you’re a good candidate for this innovative new procedure! Phoenix Regenerative Medicine is conveniently located in Phoenix, AZ.

PRP Injections: What Is The Recovery Time?

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is a rather new method for accelerating the healing of certain tissues following injury. PRP injections are also employed to rejuvenate the facial skin and encourage hair cell production in areas where patterned baldness is occurring. Platelets contain special growth factors that help signal tissue regeneration or replacement, and platelet activation is key.

Many individuals have heard about PRP injections and wonder if it’s a complicated procedure with a lengthy recovery period. In fact, the process is very simple. The areas affected by platelet activation don’t normally become sore or swollen, and in the case of injury healing, there is no extended downtime for the patient. As a cosmetic procedure, PRP injections don’t result in side effects that would cause a disruption in the normal daily routine.

How It Works
A small amount of blood is drawn from the patient’s arm vein. It’s spun at high speed in a tube, and the centrifugal force separates the plasma and platelets from the red cells. The mix is further spun until the platelet count is extremely high, perhaps 90-93 percent of the total volume.

A chloride solution is mixed with the plasma and platelets, and this activates the release of proteins and other growth factors the platelets contain. The plasma is made into a thin gel and injected into areas where tissue regeneration is underway.

PRP Injections for Injuries
This type of procedure is usually performed when the injury involves damaged tendons or ligaments. The thin gel is injected into the soft tissues, and the activated platelets immediately signal nutrient distribution. These signaling agents include transforming growth factors, fibroblast growth factors, and vascular endothelial growth factors.

This speeds recovery because the tendons and ligaments are now receiving nutrients more efficiently. Other than refraining from strenuous activity for a while, the patient need not be concerned about extended recovery because the growth factors in the PRP are speeding up the overall healing process.

Injuries that can be treated by PRP injections include but are not limited to:

Soft tissue injuries
Muscle tears
ACL injuries
Tennis elbow
Osteoarthritis in certain areas
Tendonitis

Learn More About PRP Injections
We can answer your questions regarding PRP treatment and the expected results. This treatment is becoming more and more popular. Learn how it can benefit you by contacting us and scheduling a consultation today! Phoenix Regenerative Medicine is conveniently located in Phoenix, AZ.

Treatments for Osteoarthritis in the Knee

Osteoarthritis affects millions of people worldwide and is the most common cause of joint pain. Most sufferers are middle to older age; it affects both men and women, although slightly more women are affected. It is caused by a slowly progressive inflammatory and destructive condition that damages the cartilage in joints. Individuals may be affected in only one joint, two joints, or multiple joints. The most commonly affected joint is the knee.

What causes osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis may be due to excessive wear and tear on the joint over time. In some cases it seems to be due to genetics causing the body to not have perfect alignment and structure, leading to excessive wear and tear on particular joints. Performing repetitive actions at work or in a hobby, or being overweight, can also lead to excessive wear and tear on joints. Osteoarthritis can in some cases be triggered by an injury, even a minor injury, or surgery on the joint, even minor arthroscopic surgery.

What are its symptoms?

Symptoms include pain, tenderness, stiffness, loss of flexibility, and grating sensations. The disease is progressive and tends to slowly get worse over time.

What treatments are available?

In the initial stages, exercise and weight loss can often significantly improve symptoms. Exercise, in particular low-impact exercises like swimming and water aerobics, yoga, or simply walking, are highly recommended. Over the counter medications like ibuprofen can help control pain and inflammation. Physical therapists can help devise exercise plans to strengthen muscles around the affected joint to relieve pain.

Are there treatments for more advanced disease?

If the disease is more advanced or limiting activity, joint injections may be helpful. Corticosteroid injections can relieve inflammation and pain for many months after each injection; however, their repeated use may also accelerate the cartilage degeneration in the joint. Joint lubricants like hyaluronic acid can also be injected into the knee; they need to be repeated regularly and may offer some relief, and seem to have no side effects.

Are there any alternative treatments?

Many people use dietary supplements that may contain components such as glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, hyaluronic acid, various herbs, green-lipped mussel extracts, and/or avocado-soybean oil extracts. Some people find these to be very effective. Fish oils can also be taken and may help to relieve inflammation. Acupuncture can offer pain relief to some people.

Surgery

In severe cases or when the disease has progressed to cause significant disability, surgical joint replacement can be used to essentially cure the disease. The diseased knee joint is removed and a prosthetic joint is placed. With modern surgical techniques, recovery is very rapid and many people are able to resume their normal activities within a couple of weeks, although strenuous activities will need to be avoided for a few months until complete healing takes place.

Contact Phoenix Regenerative Medicine today to learn more about your treatment options for osteoarthritis! We are conveniently located in Phoenix, AZ.

PRP Therapy: What Can Be Treated?

There is a new, innovative and exciting approach to developing solutions to common health problems. It is a process that uses your own blood to help doctors find a simple treatment option for various health conditions you may be suffering with, and it might work to improve your overall quality of life as well. When a new procedure first hits the market, people tend to be reasonably skeptical. This is actually a normal reaction from the broader public even when a new treatment shows huge promise in resolving a long-standing medical problem. What is different about platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy is that it helps improve and treat a wide variety of health issues that on the surface would seem quite unrelated. Yet, these conditions are inevitably related, because PRP therapy works to bring about a difference when it comes to making progress in treating these varied conditions.

PRP has been used to treat thinning hair, sexual dysfunction, as well as injuries. At Phoenix Regenerative Medicine we utilize PRP therapy to treat a range of conditions related to overuse and injuries.

How Does PRP Therapy Work?

PRP was originally designed to help patients heal faster after undergoing surgery. The platelet-rich plasma actually comes from your own blood. A small sample of your blood is drawn, which is then placed into a centrifuge and spun at high speeds until the PRP can be extracted. This is then injected back into the skin in the area where the treatment is needed. If you are suffering from tennis elbow, for example, we would inject the PRP therapy into your elbow.

The platelets stimulate growth and promote collagen production, which causes your body’s healing process to shift into overdrive. The uses for PRP therapy are still being discovered.

How Can PRP Therapy Help Me?

A few of the conditions we treat with PRP therapy include: ACL injuries, muscle tears, tendonitis, repetitive motion injuries, and rotator cuff tears. If you have an injury there is a good chance we can treat it.

If you are dealing with pain every day and you have a hard time seeing a solution to your problem, why not try PRP therapy? It comes from your own body so there’s almost no chance of an adverse reaction, and it’s completely natural.

Contact Phoenix Regenerative Medicine today to schedule your consultation! We are conveniently located in Phoenix, AZ.

What You Should Know About Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cell therapy is a groundbreaking group of treatments that use stem cells as a foundation for regenerative treatment. Finding clear information about stem cell therapy can be difficult. To understand more about stem cells it’s important to know some basics about cells.

Cells are the building blocks of all life, appearing in both animals and plants. Although cells are invisible to the human eye they are packed with several powerful parts each of which has its own function and design.

Cells all share common parts and functions such as the nucleus which is the brain or command center of the cell and mitochondria which converts energy into food that cells can use. These are some of the things cells have in common. Stem cells are different from other cells in a few distinct ways.

What Are Stem Cells

Stem cells are typically broken into two categories there are embryonic stem cells which make up the majority of the stem cells used in treatments and therapies. The second category of stem cells are somatic stem cells which refer to “adult” stem cells although that name can be misleading because a somatic stem cell can be any undifferentiated stem cell that is not found in an embryo. Undifferentiated stem cells are cells that are not programmed to perform within a certain organ or body function.

Embryonic stem cells are most often used in stem cell treatments and therapies because the research on their use is more substantial and treatment with embryonic stem cells are performed more often, less experimental and have higher success rates.

Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cell therapy also known as regenerative medicine is a host of treatments that use stem cells to regrow, regenerate or repair diseased or damaged cells. This is most commonly seen in bone marrow transplants but stem cell treatment can also aid in the treatment of type one diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and other illnesses.

Stem Cell Innovations

In recent years there have been big innovations in both stem cell treatment and research. Stem cell therapy is now on the horizon of being a viable treatment for cancer-related nerve damage, and glaucoma. One of the most exciting areas of stem cell research involves research on non-embryonic cells. Nearly every quarter there are new developments in research and testing that make it vital to have clear information on the exciting topic of stem cell therapy.

Contact Phoenix Regenerative Medicine to learn more about how this exciting treatment can benefit you! Schedule your consultation today at our office located in Phoenix, AZ.

Chronic Pain – How to Manage It

Pain lasting more than a few weeks or months might be considered chronic pain. Millions of people suffer from chronic pain every day. Whether the pain is caused by a sports injury, a car accident, or because of a degenerative disease, it is still pain. As techniques and strategies change over time, management of chronic pain can change. New approaches emerge and are made available to this ever-growing population of chronic pain sufferers.

The traditional response to pain is for the doctor to give the sufferer pain medication. However, in today’s world, this is becoming more and more problematic. The abundance of pain medication and their increasingly addictive nature has led to addiction and all the problems that come along with it. While still needing to use pain medication and opioids, alternatives can be used. These include PRP, stem cell therapy, and viscosupplementation, just to name a few.

Sometimes, you need to just slow down too. You might be having a good day and try to overdo it. But you should know that you are probably going to pay for it later. You may have a recurrence of the chronic pain, maybe even worse than it was before. So, it’s also important to slow down and take it easy.

With that being said, a part of the treatment plan for chronic pain should typically include some form of exercise. As difficult as this may sound, gentle exercise can help stretch muscles, relax the body, and have a positive impact on the pain.

All of these methods could be used in conjunction with one another to treat your chronic pain. It is important to come in for a consultation at Phoenix Regenerative Medicine to see what the best plan for you might be. Contact us today to book your appointment at our office in Phoenix.

How to Deal with Joint Pain

Joints are the parts of our bodies that join bones and cartilage together. They accommodate motion. They’re not all the same and operate differently. Some are highly movable. Others only enable mild motion. Some don’t move at all. There are six kinds of synovial joints, for example. The hinge, pivot, saddle plane, condyloid and ball-and-socket joints are those that enable the most movement. Hinge joints move fingers and toes. A pivot joint allows us to turn our necks. Our hips and shoulders move via ball-and-socket joints. Our wrists are able to flex due to the joints between the radius, scaphoid and lunate bones that enable a gliding motion. Saddle joints allow the thumb to bend. Our ankles move courtesy of the navicular and second cuneiform joints. Planar joints are what allow motion in our ankles. Our bodies are well designed and more intricate than we often realize, and oftentimes it’s not until a person deals with joint pain that they realize just how important these body parts truly are.

What Does Having Joint Pain Mean?

Joint pain is an indicator of one of many possible problems. Sometimes it’s a sign of arthritis. It could be gout or maybe even a sprain. Joint pain is the first sign of an injury or condition that needs to be treated. Some joints act up more than others, the knee being one such example. Knees carry the weight of our bodies and over time can become sensitive from the pressure that bears down on them.

If you experience swelling or stiffness in your knee, you’re not alone. Knee problems afflict thirty percent of the population in the United States, according to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sometimes something as simple as losing a few pounds can alleviate knee tenderness. Only a full medical evaluation can resolve why your joints are hurting, however.

What are the Best Forms of Treatment?

Medicine is, of course, an option. But many people wish to stay away from medications, if possible. That’s why at Phoenix Regenerative Medicine, we are proud to offer viscosupplementation and other regenerative therapies for joint pain and other issues. Contact us today to book an evaluation in Phoenix and get started.

Benefits of PRP Treatment

Platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, is becoming one of the most popular tissue rejuvenation treatments worldwide. Originally developed as a means to accelerate the healing of tendons and ligaments after injury, this therapy is now being used to address various issues and complaints. The benefits of PRP treatment are many and include rapid tissue healing without any sort of invasive procedure, safe injection of PRP without the possibility of contamination or rejection, and virtually no downtime for the client. You are warmly invited to learn more about how PRP treatment can be used at our office to treat various health conditions and speed recovery from certain injuries.

What Does PRP Treatment Involve?

For this treatment, we draw a small amount of blood from the client. We use a specially designed centrifuge to separate the platelets and plasma from the red cells. We then create a mix containing a highly concentrated amount of platelets in a small amount of plasma.

The concentrated amount of platelets in the treatment area after the mix is injected stimulates a response. The platelets act as signaling agents for the direction of nutrient distribution. This speeds up the replacement of damaged cells with healthier new growth.

What Can It Treat?

It made headlines some years ago when several prominent athletes reported satisfactory results after PRP treatment. The mix can be injected directly into damaged tendons, ligaments, and bone joint tissues such as those in the knees or elbows. The ligaments and tendons heal faster after PRP injections are performed. Some individuals even report less pain when this treatment is used to combat the symptoms of osteoarthritis.

Whether you are interested in treating a rotator cuff tear, tendonitis, back and neck injuries, or tennis elbow, PRP treatment could work for you. Unlike other treatments, the injections don’t involve the introduction of compounds that aren’t naturally present in the body. This makes PRP a good alternative for those who are wary of undergoing other treatments.

Get More Information About PRP Treatment

If you are dealing with a tissue or muscle injury, you owe it to yourself to consider PRP treatment with our professionals at Phoenix Regenerative Medicine in Phoenix, AZ. Contact us today to schedule an initial consultation and learn more.

What Kinds of Treatments Exist for a Sprained Ankle?

A lot of athletes injure their ankles. But you do not need to be an athlete to suffer a serious sprain of your ankle. All it takes is stepping the wrong way and you can accidentally turn your ankle and hurt it. A lot of people will sprain their ankle because they walk on an uneven surface. The pain they experienced after a sprained ankle is considered debilitating.

Anyone can suffer a sprained ankle. However, the number one group of people who suffer sprained ankles are men between the ages of 15 and 24 years old. Women over the age of 30 often sprain their ankles at a higher rate than men of the same age.

It is estimated that every single day, more than 25,000 people sprain their ankles. Each year, more than a million people go to the doctor because of some type of ankle injury. The most common types of ankle injuries are sprains or fractures. Some people, on rare occasions, tear their ankle tendon.

The treatment for a sprained ankle is going to vary depending on the severity of the sprain. Most ankle sprains do not require surgery. That is, of course, unless the sprain is extremely severe and extensive damage has been sustained by the ligaments.

With a mild sprain, also known as a grade one sprain, the RICE approach is most often used. This approach may be used for a number of days until the pain and the swelling go down. If the sprain is mild, you likely will not require further treatment. However, it all depends on the unique case.

At Phoenix Regenerative Medicine, we are proud to offer PRP therapy and stem cell therapy for sprained ankles. Contact us today to book a consultation in Phoenix!