regenerative medicine doctor

Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritis

May 30, 2019Jeff Pierce, DO Regenerative Medicine

Almost everyone knows someone who has been diagnosed with arthritis, and yet we often overlook how severe and debilitating arthritis can be. According to Arthritis.org, it is the leading cause of disability among adults in the US.

Arthritis Prevalence

By conservative estimates, about 54 million adults have doctor-diagnosed arthritis.
Almost 300,000 babies and children have arthritis or a rheumatic condition.
The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which affects an estimated 31 million Americans.
Number of people expected to have doctor-diagnosed arthritis by the year 2040: more than 78 million.

Additionally, it should be mentioned that often women are diagnosed with arthritis more commonly than men.

What Causes Arthritis?

The most common type of arthritis, osteoarthritis involves wear-and-tear damage to your joint’s cartilage — the hard, slick coating on the ends of bones. Enough damage can result in bone grinding directly on bone, which causes pain and restricted movement. This wear and tear can occur over many years, or it can be hastened by a joint injury or infection. Athletes, those with sports injuries and those who perform repetitive motions (think of people who perform physical jobs) often get ‘wear and tear’ on their joints more readily. Other factors, such as being overweight, can also increase the onset and severity of arthritis.

What are the treatments for arthritis?

Medications are commonly prescribed for arthritis, with the goal of reducing pain and inflammation.

Analgesics. These medications help reduce pain, but have no effect on inflammation. Examples include acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), tramadol (Ultram, Ultracet, others) and narcotics containing oxycodone (Percocet, Oxycontin, others) or hydrocodone (Norco, Vicoprofen, others).
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs reduce both pain and inflammation. Over-the-counter NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve). Some types of NSAIDs are available only by prescription. Oral NSAIDs can cause stomach irritation, and some may increase your risk of heart attack or stroke. Some NSAIDs are also available as creams or gels, which can be rubbed on joints.

However, these methods only work on the SYMPTOMS of arthritis, and do nothing to actually repair the joint. For people who are proactive about their health and are looking for a holistic solution, stem cell therapy is emerging as a leading treatment.

Stem Cell Therapy for Arthritis

Researchers theorize that when applied to an arthritic joint, stem cells might:

Develop into needed cartilage cells
Suppress inflammation that can make arthritis worse
Release proteins (cytokines) that slow down cartilage degeneration and/or decrease pain

As you may have noticed in our last blog about regenerative medicine treatments in Michigan, we are strong proponents of this as a procedure. PRP (platelet rich plasma) and stem cell therapy can combine for a massively effective healing effect.

Get Proactive About Your Health with Regenerative Medicine

You’re not 25 anymore. Things AREN’T recovering as quickly as they used to. Is there truly a fountain of youth? Understand preventative treatment and regenerative medicine is a way to fight the wear and tear and the overall impact of getting older. However, for it to be truly effective, you need to act EARLY and treat your health and wellness like the priority it is.

If you identify with any of these, contact our office today and schedule a consultation:

Shoulder pain from an old sport sinjury
Chronic back pain
Neck pain from an auto accident
A ‘bum knee’
Nagging pain that you chalk up to ‘old age’

Aging doesn’t automatically mean you have to resign yourself to arthritis and pain. Contact us today!

The TRUTH About Regenerative Medicine

May 16, 2019Jeff Pierce, DO Regenerative Medicine

Join us at the exclusive Michigan Osteopathic Association Spring Convention, the largest medical conference in Michigan, this Friday, May 17th at 3-4 pm for a presentation by Dr. Jeff Pierce titled Regenerative Medicine, Pros & Cons. We’ll be discussing our cutting-edge approach at keeping everyone from top athletes to business executives at peak performance using prp therapy and autologous stem cell therapy.

Regenerative Medicine in Michigan: What is it, and how does it benefit patients?

Our bodies have innate healing processes. When we get a cut or a scrape, our body repairs itself on its own. When we get hit with a cold, our bodies respond and get us back to good health again.

Regenerative medicine is a discipline of medicine focused on utilizing and optimizing these natural self-healing processes to improve our health. It includes things like organ transplants (both real and artificial), tissue engineering, cellular therapies, and more.

Regenerative medicine is innovative in the medical community, and we’re proud that we’ve actually been using forms of it for years. We offer PRP therapy (platelet rich plasma therapy), as well as autologous stem cell therapy.

Let’s take a closer look at difference between the two therapies and why they each play such an important role in keeping our bodies at peak performance:

PRP Therapy for Arthritis & Pain

Platelet rich plasma, commonly referred to as “PRP’, is a non-operative, permanent solution for conditions such as arthritis and ligament/tendon sprains and tears. Utilizing the body’s natural healing process, PRP therapy is a concentration of platelets that are injected into the damaged ligaments, tendons, and joints to promote tissue repair and accelerate healing. PRP stimulates native cells and native stem cells to repair damage, and on average, an injured individual can get back to a pain-free life in four to six weeks.

PRP was made popular by professional athletes and weekend warriors through its treatment of season-ending symptoms including swelling, stiffness, inflammation, tenderness, and pain.

Conditions Helped By PRP Therapy

Platelet rich plasma injections are most effective for the following conditions:

Lumbar spine disc pain
Rotator cuff injuries, including partial-thickness
Shoulder pain and instability
Tennis and golfer’s elbow
Hamstring and hip strains
Knee sprains and instability
Patellofemoral syndrome and patellar tendonitis
Ankle sprains
Achilles tendonitis & plantar fasciitis
Knee, hip, and other joint osteoarthritis
Nerve entrapment syndromes, such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Sacroiliac (SI) joint dysfunction and pain
Lumbar and cervical facet dysfunction and pain

Additionally, PRP can be effective for many cases of osteoarthritis by stimulating healing of cartilage and reducing pain and disability. This includes:

Knee arthritis
Hip joint arthritis
Shoulder arthritis
Ankle arthritis

THE BENEFITS OF PRP TREATMENT

PRP presents patients with a long lasting, permanent solution that will not wear off over time as with a traditional pain injection. For this reason, the use of PRP could help a patient avoid joint replacement surgery, and potentially back surgery. With any treatment option, the effectiveness of the treatment depends upon the severity of the injury.

The timeframe for experiencing results is dependent upon the area of injury and the extent of the injury. On average, most patients start to see signs of improvement in the form of reduced pain or increased function within four to six weeks.

Continuing a well-designed course of physical therapy and avoidance of aggressive physical activity or overloading the injected tissues is advised in the weeks that follow the injections. This is done to allow the tissues to heal best.

WHAT is STEM CELL Therapy?

Mesenchymal stem cells are specialized cells that naturally grow in our body and can differentiate into bone, cartilage or fat cells. They are widely used in medicine as a natural healing solution to effectively treat orthopedic conditions including the spine and major joints (like the shoulder, hip, knee, ankle, etc.). Unlike PRP which only stimulates native stem cells, an injection of stem cells goes to work immediately in the affected area.

BENEFITS OF STEM CELL THERAPY

There are many benefits of stem cell therapy, including but not limited to:

Improved pain-relief and decreased inflammation
Increased functionality and range of motion in affected area
Shorter recovery time compared to traditional treatment options
Natural, longer-term treatment solution
Effective alternative to surgical intervention
Outpatient procedure with no anesthesia

HOW DOES Stem Cell Therapy WORK?

The human body has multiple sites for stem cells to repair degenerated and injured structures. We have found that obtaining stem cells from bone marrow or adipose tissue is easily performed within minutes. After the stem cells are obtained, minutes later they can be used for treatment in our outpatient state-of-the-art-facility.

Regenerative stem cell injections begin after the affected area is sterilized and numbed with a novocaine-type solution, and go to work immediately to begin regenerating and strengthening weakened joints.

WHAT CONDITIONS BENEFIT FROM STEM CELL INJECTIONS?

Stem cell injections are most commonly used for treatment of the following conditions:

Osteoarthritis of the joints including knee, hip, shoulder, and ankle joints
Partial rotator cuff tears
Persistent tendon tears such as tennis elbow, plantar fasciitis, quadriceps, and patellar tendon tears
Muscular tears
Cartilage tears in the knee (meniscus)
Spinal conditions including degenerative disc disease, herniated discs, spinal facet pain, pinched nerves, and sacroiliac (SI) joint pain

WHEN WILL I SEE BENEFITS FROM Stem Cell Therapy Injections?

Stem cell injections are designed to heal and strengthen damaged tissue, therefore pain relief is typically noticed several weeks after the procedure. Final relief is seen approximately two to three months after the entire treatment protocol has been completed.

Are you looking for relief from a sports injury, arthritis, or any other chronic, nagging pain? Contact us today for a consultation and evaluation so we can get you on the road to a better, stronger life!

Six Degrees of Separation – Tiger Woods Edition

May 6, 2019Jeff Pierce, DO Health & Fitness

Tiger Woods.

Heard of him?

Especially recently…seeing as he mounted the greatest comeback in modern-day sports history by winning the Masters in April!!!

Tiger’s rise and fall and then triumphant comeback brought together generations in front of the television. Personal challenges, family stuff, and many health setbacks made for a record-setting audience shedding more than a few tears watching it all unfold.

The most recent health situation for Tiger: Back Fusion.

Pretty much a nightmare for a professional athlete, let alone a recreational golfer. Or a person who enjoys moving their body.

Maybe your golf knowledge isn’t up to par (#golfjokes) and you don’t realize that every shot, besides putting, involves a pretty intense rotation…you know, with your back.

Other significant injuries and surgeries:

-ACL (knee) reconstruction

-Achilles reconstruction

-Two stress fractures of the left tibia

-MCL Strains

Of course, Tiger, being Tiger, he had access to top-notch health professionals.

His course of action, specifically to recover from his knee and Achilles issues post-surgery?

You guessed it… PRP Therapy!

PRP Therapy

If you’ve been following Michigan Sport and Spine for any length of time, the term “regenerative therapy” might sound familiar.

PRP therapy, or Platelet Rich Plasma therapy, is a service we offer in the office.

Regenerative therapy has been shown to reduce pain and improve recovery time. For many years, blood components derived from the patient and then delivered to the site of injury have created growing interest for use in orthopedic procedures.

But what about that procedure?

The procedure takes just minutes to perform. All-inclusive from prep through recovery time, only a couple of hours.
We encourage most of our patients to return to work or go about their usual activities right after the procedure is done.
For the procedure, platelets are taken from either bone marrow or fat tissue.

After the procedure in the office, you might experience some discomfort, but you will be encouraged to move the joint. You will have some downtime, but moving around will help encourage the Platelets to get on that healing.

As many as three injections may be given within a six-month time frame. However, a large number of people gain considerable, to complete relief after just the first injection!

Do you have a nagging injury lasting longer than six weeks?

Call the office and set up an appointment. Have one of our trained professionals check it out. Maybe PRP therapy is the right call for your situation.

Want to remove a degree of separation and get EVEN CLOSER to Tiger Woods?

PRP therapy

You can even wear a red shirt* to the office.

*We cannot guarantee that wearing said red shirt will make you a better golfer, but the PRP could help.

ABOUT MICHIGAN SPORTS & SPINE CENTER:

We’re innovative leaders utilizing cutting-edge technologies such as musculoskeletal ultrasounds, PRP, stem cell treatment, and other innovative procedures. Michigan Sports & Spine Center is committed to resolving your pain, not simply masking it. We treat the whole body, not just the injury, and perform preventative treatment so your injury doesn’t come back. Our studies prove that Michigan Sports & Spine Center has patient success rates much higher than the national average. We treat everyone from high-profile athletes to your neighbor next door. Our primary focus is getting our patients back into the game of life!