Our Treatments

What is a Regenerative Medicine?

The “process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function”. In comparison to traditional medicine, this field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by stimulating the body’s own repair mechanisms to functionally heal previously irreparable tissues or organs.

Traditional medicine involves the treatment of symptoms, whereas the regenerative medicine aims to treat the root cause of a patient’s condition by replacing lost cells or organs, or by fixing a faulty gene. While regenerative medicine provides the potential to the reduce the burden of disease for some common conditions as well as improve the health-related quality of life of many patients with chronic diseases, the results are variable and the studies are on-going.

The facet joints can become painful due to a back injury, arthritis, or mechanical stress to the back. Facet injections usually have two goals: to help diagnose the cause and location of pain and to provide pain relief.

Which Conditions may be treated with Regenerative Medicine?

The team at Advanced Spine & Pain Interventions offers a variety of protocols in the area of regenerative medicine for treating chronic pain disorders. The type of treatment is determined by the type of chronic condition and tissue injury:

• Spine Pain: Facet Joint Arthropathy, Sacroiliac Joint Disease
• Shoulder Pain: Osteoarthritis, Rotator Cuff Tendonopathy, etc
• Elbow, Wrist and Hand Pain: Osteoarthritis, Tennis Elbow, Golfer’s Elbow, DeQuervain’s Tenosynovitis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Hip Pain: Osteoarthritis, Degenerative Joint Disease, Cartilage Dysfunction
• Knee pain: Osteoarthritis, Ligament and Tendon Injuries
• Ankle and Foot Pain: Osteoarthritis, Achilles Rupture and Tendonitis, Fasciitis

How does this procedure work?

The team at Advanced Spine & Pain Interventions offers a variety of protocols in the area of regenerative medicine for treating chronic pain disorders. The type of treatment is determined by the type of chronic condition and tissue injury:

1. Platelet Rich Plasma (Most Popular and Widely Studied)
2. Alpha 2 macroglobulin, or A2M injection therapy: uses scientific techniques and natural healing methods to successfully treat osteoarthritis. It is used to prevent cartilage breakdown, promote tissue growth and support the overall restoration of an affected joint. Individual patient results may vary. Therefore, to ensure successful results our team will test for a specific biomarker associated with the painful inflammation in osteoarthritis of the joint and spine. Candidates positive for this marker are more likely to benefit from this injection therapy. The team at Advanced Spine & Pain Interventions have the ability to collect and process your own blood containing natural healing elements and process it through an advanced system that result in a super concentrated volume of A2M which can then be used for treatment inside of joints, degenerative discs, and into damaged soft tissues and areas of inflammation.
3. Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentration (BMAC): Compared to PRP and A2M, usually reserved for more severe forms of osteoarthritis and tissue injuries. The Providers at Advanced Spine & Pain Interventions would harvest the patient’s own bone marrow through a non-surgical technique from the hip bone. The bone marrow contains an even higher amount of stem cells that would be found in the blood. The bone marrow containing the natural healing elements is processed through an advanced system that result in a super concentrated volume which can then be used for treatment inside of joints, degenerative discs, and damaged soft tissues and areas of inflammation.

What is the recovery time of this procedure?

All procedures may be performed in an ambulatory surgery setting and does not require general anesthesia allowing a quick recovery. Overall, there is no down time following the procedure. Any regards for recovery may require 24 hours if minimal sedation is used.

What are the benefits of this treatment?

1. Minimally Invasive: There is no open incision
2. Last resort alternative treatment for chronic intractable pain due to tissue injury and/or damage.
3. May be used to delay or as an alternative to invasive surgery.

How many treatments will i need?

Each condition affecting the soft tissues, joints and spine are different and require different healing time. Soft tissues require less healing time and growth factors over the bones of the joints and spine.

Therefore, treatments can range from 1 to 4 treatments. The patient is evaluated at week 2 to monitor progress of the initial procedure and then follow-up ensues at week 4. A repeat procedure is determined at week 4 of the initial procedure.

What are the risks of this procedure?

Facet injections are considered an appropriate nonsurgical treatment for most patients. Potential risks associated with inserting a needle into the facet joint includes bleeding, injection, allergic reaction, and nerve damage/paralysis (rare). Corticosteroid side effects may include weight gain, water retention, hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia, and elevated blood sugar levels in diabetic individuals. Side effects are temporary and any numbness or mild muscle weakness usually resolves within 8 hours.