Regenerative Medicine
Serving the Phoenix area from Scottsdale, Arizona
Regenerative therapies such as prolotherapy, PRP and stem cell therapies may help alleviate joint pain and heal joint injuries.
Our regenerative treatments stimulate a natural process that can repair and strengthen damaged ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. If your joint pain has not responded to other treatments, we may be able to help.
Ligaments and tendons can heal without surgery. Cartilage tissue can be restored. Even “bone on bone” joints may regenerate with prolotherapy, PRP and stem cell treatments combined with naturopathic medicines. (Advanced degeneration may require periodic tune-ups.)
Joint tissues have limited blood supply, which impairs their ability to heal on their own. Regenerative medicine can benefit anyone with joint pain. It is less invasive, less costly, delivers quicker results than other treatments, and requires minimal recovery. Elite athletes and active people take advantage of these non-surgical treatments to get back in action faster and stronger, and to prevent small injuries from becoming more serious.
Types of regenerative treatments we offer
Prolotherapy
Prolotherapy can be effective in treating chronic joint pain by stabilizing the joint capsule, rebuilding collagen, strengthening and repairing ligaments, and relieving pain. Injured tissues are infused with a nutrient solution of hypertonic glucose, vitamin B12, and lidocaine. Glucosamine may be added to increase stimulation. Generally, 3-6 treatments provide resolution. The amount of joint damage dictates the number of treatments and if periodic tune-up treatments are needed for maintaining full functioning.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
Platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, treatment concentrates platelets from your blood which are then injected into ligaments and joints. PRP heals moderate to severe joint degeneration, cartilage tears, and arthritis damage. PRP provides stronger healing stimulation than prolotherapy. When pain is combined with joint inflammation, we often start with 1-2 prolotherapy treatments, followed by 2-3 PRP treatments.
Stem cell therapy
Stem cell therapy can heal severely injured joint tissues, degenerative joint conditions and musculoskeletal disorders, including osteoarthritis. Stem cells and their associated growth factors are extracted from amniotic tissue. They will stimulate healing and regenerate new tissue in ligaments, cartilage, and tendons, replacing what’s been damaged. The growth factors decrease inflammation and trigger growth of new connective tissue and blood vessel cells.
Joint conditions that may be helped by prolotherapy, PRP or stem cell therapies
Cartilage tears and degeneration cause chronic pain. It often starts with weakened ligaments, which allow joints to be hypermobile, causing premature cartilage wear and inflammation.
Low back pain and sciatica are common disabling conditions, usually due to repetitive strain of the sacroiliac ligaments (destabilized lumbar vertebrae) along with lumbar disk degeneration.
Upper back pain, including trapezius muscle spasm, is often caused by a fall on an outstretched arm that sprains the ligaments that connect the ribs to the vertebrae, causing years of pain and “tight shoulders and tingling into fingers.”
Neck pain often starts with injured ligaments from whiplash, resulting in hypermobility, degeneration and inflammation, pain and muscle spasms that may persist for years.
Shoulder pain is often caused by rotator cuff tears and ligament instability. When it persists after physical therapy, we look for injuries to those deeper ligaments in the shoulder, torn cartilage (labrum), and arthritis.
Elbow pain from golf, tennis, baseball or trauma is often a ligament sprain plus tendonitis. Once the pain sets in, daily activities such as yard work, cooking and unloading the car often make it worse.
Wrist and thumb pain is often caused by repetitive motion, such as golf or typing, or may result from a fall. Finger joint pain is likely a combination of ligament sprain and arthritis.
Hip degeneration and groin pain can be from car accidents, jumping, running and even yoga. Ligament hypermobility may degrade cartilage and cause arthritis.
Knee pain often comes from both cartilage damage and hypermobility from lax ligaments. Aging and high mileage can cause arthritis and joint disease. Knee pain can seriously limit your exercise and recreation.
Ankle and foot injuries can be painful. Each foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, 19 muscles, and many tendons. Foot and ankle injuries, sprains, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendonitis, common for athletes and physically active people, cause both acute and chronic pain.
Headaches are often triggered by accidents that weaken tendons at the base of the skull. The occipital tendons hold the head erect all day, and when their function is compromised, the upper neck muscles work overtime, and fatigue, spasms, headaches, and even migraines may result.
Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the US, limiting activity for over 25 million people. For arthritis sufferers, regeneration can be life-changing.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition that may present with multiple painful joints and fatigue. Patients with fibromyalgia feel pain in ways that are hard for others to understand.
Call or visit our clinic in Arizona to schedule an appointment.