Why Everyone From Elite Athletes to Seniors are Turning to Regenerative Medicine to Remedying Joint


Anyone can develop joint pain, regardless of age, gender, or activity level. This type of discomfort can occur anywhere two bones come together. Joint problems can cause pain and soreness that is mild to debilitating. 

One of the most common causes of joint pain is arthritis, a term that covers several joint disorders, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Additional causes of joint pain also include:

  • Injury or overuse
  • Tendon inflammation, or tendonitis
  • Bursitis, or inflammation of the pads around your joints
  • Gout, fibromyalgia, lupus, cancer, and other conditions

Treatments for joint pain used to focus on just relieving symptoms. That’s no longer the case. At Mountain Spine & Pain Physicians in Denver, Brian J. Fuller, MD, doesn’t just treat the pain. He treats the cause. Dr. Fuller offers the most advanced solutions available for joint problems, such as platelet-rich plasma therapy and stem cell therapy, both of which can repair damaged tissue.

Introducing regenerative medicine

Instead of traditional joint pain treatments that only address symptoms, regenerative medicine focuses on healing the causes of joint pain. There are different kinds of regenerative medicine techniques, including platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy and stem cell therapy. 

Both of these therapies take specific cells from one part of your body and inject them into damaged areas of your body to naturally trigger the healing process. Platelet-rich plasma therapy and stem cell therapy can get rid of your joint pain by spurring healing of the underlying issues.

A closer look at PRP therapy

Platelet-rich plasma therapy uses the powerful healing agents in your blood to repair your body. 

During this therapy, Dr. Fuller draws a sample of your blood and processes it in a centrifuge to concentrate the healing agents in your blood. Once ready, he uses guided imagery technology to inject your sample directly into your joint damage. 

This process is minimally invasive and causes few if any side effects. You may experience minor redness, swelling, or inflammation at the injection site. After your treatment, you can usually resume your normal activities.

Within 2-6 weeks, you should start to notice less pain and improved function in your joint as healthy new cells return to the area. You can expect to continue seeing improvement over the next 12 months.

Besides helping with joint issues, PRP therapy can treat muscle strains, chronic tendonitis, ligament injuries, fractures, and other issues.

How stem cell therapy works

Stem cells — which are located in numerous places in your body — can become any type of cell. That means they can rebuild all kinds of tissue, such as cartilage, bone, muscles, blood vessels, nerve endings, and even skin. By taking some of your stem cells and injecting them into damaged areas, your body can repair itself better.

To perform stem cell therapy, Dr. Fuller first takes a sample of stem cells from your body, typically from the bone marrow in your hip. After preparing it for your injection, he uses digital guidance to deliver the stem cells into the problem area.

Similar to PRP, you can usually return to your regular activities after your procedure, but you might have some discomfort in the area as the stem cells trigger the healing process. You should experience improvement within a few weeks of your first treatment. Dr. Fuller often recommends a series of stem cell injections for maximum results.

Stem cell therapy can treat many areas of your body, including your knees, shoulders, hips, and lower back.

To see if regenerative medicine can treat your joint problems, book an appointment online or over the phone with Mountain Spine & Pain Physicians today.

Popular posts from this blog

Myths and Facts About PRP Therapy

Image
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has grown in popularity over the last few years, thanks to its ability to rapidly heal sports injuries. This minimally-invasive treatment uses your own blood to help you heal quickly. Even celebrity athletes like Tiger Woods and Rafael Nadal, have used PRP therapy to help get them back on the playing field.  You’ve probably heard a lot about PRP therapy. Sometimes, it can be hard to tell fact from fiction. Don't worry, our team at   Mountain Spine & Pain Physicians  are here to help you learn the truth. FACT: PRP therapy uses blood with almost 10 times more growth factors Your blood contains plasma, which is a liquid that carries cells and proteins through your body. Turns out, your blood is also made up of tiny solids. These solids are better known as platelets, red cells, and white cells. Platelets help your body form blood clots. They also consist of proteins called “growth factors” which play a vital role in healing injuries. Platelet-rich plasma
Read more

How to Identify and Treat Sacroiliitis

Image
Up to  25% of lower back pain  is caused by an inflammation of the sacroiliac joints, a condition known as sacroiliitis. You have two sacroiliac joints: one on each side of your hips. The sacroiliac joints attach your sacrum (i.e., part of your lower back that lies between the tailbone and your lowest vertebrae) to your ilium (i.e., the upper portion of your pelvic bones). Brian Fuller, MD , and our expert team members at Mountain Spine & Pain Physicians in Denver, Colorado, recognize that  lower back pain  can be frustrating to live with and its underlying causes may be difficult to detect. Here, we share a few insights into what sacroiliitis is, how to know if you might have it, and how to treat it. A joint you can’t move Normally, when you think about your joints, you think about the “hinge” or “ball and socket” connections between two bones that allow you to do things like bend, flex, and rotate. Your sacroiliac joints, however, are tightly attached to each other with a series
Read more

How Lower Back Pain Affects Your Hips

Image
Your body isn’t just a set of unrelated systems that operate independently. Your spine and bones, muscles and other soft-tissues, and your nerves all affect one another. When you have lower back pain, for instance, it changes the way you hold and distribute your body weight, which alters the way you hold and use your  hip joints , too.    Brian J. Fuller, MD,  a Harvard-trained, triple-board certified physician and founder of Mountain Spine & Pain Physicians in Denver, Colorado, believes in healing the underlying problems that cause your pain. Here he discusses how untreated, unhealed lower back pain can hurt your hips, too. The kind of referral you don’t want When your hips and upper legs are stiff and painful, the problem might not originate in your hip joint at all. If you have sacroiliitis — an inflammation in one or both of your sacroiliac joints (i.e., the joint that connects your lower back to your pelvis) — the pain can radiate downward toward your hip joint. Pain that’s fe
Read more