In the United States, orthobiologics have been used for many years to treat a variety of musculoskeletal conditions. Now, orthobiologics are also being evaluated for post-surgical use to maximize outcomes, aid in recovery, and reduce pain.
Results vary but this patient’s result is very common….other injections, medications and treatments did not work well or for very long. She was told she needed surgery for her knee arthritis……and with this office injection from her own bone marrow she is 85% – 90% better without surgery!
Shoulder pain from any cause can be a debilitating experience. For many people, the pain in their shoulder may come from an injury to the rotator cuff tendons. The pain and disability can be so significant that they are unable to sleep or work for any length of time. The good news is there are nonsurgical options like regenerative medicine that have been shown in clinical research to significantly reduce pain and increase function without surgery.
At Texas Orthobiologics, we use two state-of-the-art treatments to deliver relief to individuals bothered by persistent low back pain: regenerative medicine injections and laser therapy. One reason we chose these two treatments is that there is already solid clinical evidence that they are safer and as effective or even more effective than alternative surgical procedures.
Today I saw a middle aged patient with middle aged knee arthritis and he was looking for another option for arthritis pain relief. He had been to two seminars discussing umbilical cord blood, Wharton’s Jelly, Exosomes, and other regenerative medicine injections. His question for me: “How much cartilage will YOUR procedure grow back” Seems that he had been told that he would grow 1 inch of cartilage back at one seminar and about 0.5 inches at the other seminar. I found this funny and interesting and probably a bald faced lie…. because the upper range of normal human cartilage thickness in the knee is 3-4mm…….FAR less than the 25mm promised in one seminar and still far less that the 12mm promised in the other seminar.
PRP injections can help with anything from sports injuries to knee arthritis to back pain, but PRP is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Before you schedule your injection, there are some important considerations.
The Las Vegas MSK Ultrasound and Orthobiologics Course will be at the Cosmopolitan Hotel January 13-15, 2022. www.orthosono.com
Here is an example of a patient with an unstable meniscus tear. These sort of tears don’t do well with just an orthobiologic injection in the office because the meniscus (the “cushion” or “shock absorber”) in the knee is still unstable and moves around too much to heal in the right place. Many surgeons will just remove the torn portion of the meniscus, But this is like removing one of the shock absorbers from your car, and places more stress on the knee and can lead to earlier arthritis. We can repair the meniscus in a variety of ways in an arthroscopic surgery that takes about 30-45 minutes…. and still use your own body’s PRP or stem cells to improve the success rate….a win-win situation for you and your knee!
If you haven't heard anything about platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, it's a form of regenerative medicine that uses the body’s own capabilities for healing itself.
PRP injections – or Platelet-rich plasma injections – are a minimally invasive medical treatment that stimulates the regeneration of soft tissues. The injections are a type of regenerative medicine that promotes optimal healing for a person who has sustained injuries and can also be used to help alleviate pain associated with those injuries.
