Patient’s Guide to Regenerative Injection Therapy
Jul 11, 2019
Regenerative injection therapy is a powerful modern medical technique that helps enhance the body’s own natural healing processes. It can help repair injured tissues to provide lasting pain relief and accelerate recovery times after an injury. It’s frequently used to treat a variety of sports-related injuries, but may also be used to treat back pain and spine pain, more generally, as well as pain caused by other musculoskeletal degenerative conditions. Even so, there has been a lot of misinformation and myths that have been spread about these therapies that cause people to be reluctant concerning them. If your doctor has recommended a form of regenerative injection therapy for treatment, we’ve created this guide to give you the information you need to help you decide if it’s right for you.
At present, regenerative injection therapy falls into two categories: Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Therapy and Stem Cell Therapy. Let’s discuss both in more detail.
Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy
Platelets are the type of cell the body produces to encourage clotting at the site of an injury so the body can begin to heal itself. Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP) involves extracting these platelets from the patient’s blood, concentrating them by spinning out the plasma, and re-injecting the platelets at the injury site. Because platelet-rich plasma contains up to 10 times the concentration of platelets normally found in the blood, it can be a very effective treatment for injuries to accelerate healing. PRP is used to treat a variety of different injuries, ranging from non-healing wounds to ligament/muscle injuries, nerve damage and even back and spine conditions.
Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cells are non-specific cells that can “differentiate” and become specialized according to what the body needs, particularly to repair and replace damage tissue. Think of stem cells as the body’s repair kit. There has been some misunderstanding of stem cells in regenerative medicine because it’s been confused with the practice of harvesting embryonic stem cells from fetuses. The reality is that stem cell therapy uses stem cells harvested from your own body tissues and reinjects them at the point of pain or injury so those tissues can go to work to heal your body. Stem cell therapy can be used to treat ligament and cartilage damage, as well as back injuries and regenerative conditions.
While regenerative therapies can be highly effective, they are not a “miracle cure,” and they don’t work the same way for everyone. Many people report some minor pain and swelling for the first few days after regenerative injection therapy, but this usually subsides within 2 days to 2 weeks, after which the patient generally starts to see improvements. Talk to your doctor about how to care for your injury during the healing process and when you can return to sports after the treatment. Doctors Shane Mangrum and Thomas Morrison III recently gave an informative interview which should provide more detailed information on regenerative injection therapy.
While regenerative injection therapies are safe, they should also only be administered by an experienced professional. Choosing the right Atlanta PRP specialist may involve doing some research, looking at reviews, and asking about prior experience. You also want to look for an Atlanta specialist who offers a diversity of treatment options besides regenerative therapies. That way, you’ll have confidence that if the treatment isn’t right for you, you’ll have other choices.
Polaris Spine & Neurosurgery Center is pleased to offer Regenerative Injection Therapy among many other treatment options for managing pain and promoting healing. To learn more, give us a call at 404-256-2633 or email us at newpatients@polarisspine.com.