What Is Regenerative Medicine?

When we are asked to describe what we do, often we say “non-surgical orthopedics,” or “functional medicine mixed with musculoskeletal medicine,” or “Osteopathic Manipulation and Regenerative Medicine.” 

Why is it so complex? 

Because what we do at The Osteopathic Way is truly unique. 

We take an overall approach to your health with functional medicine and create opportunity for your body to heal. One of the most innovative and unique ways to do this is with Regenerative Medicine.  

Regenerative Medicine, sometimes referred to as OrthoBiologics, is the practice of taking the innate healing cells of the body (stem cells, cytokines, platelets, etc.) and putting them exactly where they are needed. 

This is done for many types of musculoskeletal conditions, but most frequently these techniques are used for joint, tendon or ligament issues.  The most common diagnosis in our practice that benefits from regenerative medicine is osteoarthritis, but we also use it for tendinopathies, ligamentous strains or tears, meniscal and labral tears very successfully.  

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is the most common procedure done in our office after Osteopathic Manipulation.  It is when we take blood directly from the patient and spin it down, extracting the platelet rich portion and then injecting it back into the body. 

All of our injections are done with ultrasound in order to guide us to the exact right place – a small tear in a tendon, for example.  This makes it much more successful as the healing cells can get exactly where they need to go.  

We also do a unique type of injection called alpha-2-macroglobulin, which lends extra healing power to a PRP injection.  Very few physicians actually process their own blood (instead using pre ordered kits) in the office, but our spin protocol is unique and leads to a superior blood product.  This allows us to extract alpha-2-macroglobulin specifically.  Our technique as well as our ability to pinpoint the diagnosis is why we have over a 90 percent success rate with our PRP injections.  

If PRP isn’t an option due to the severity of the injury, our next step is Cellular Therapy.  This is when bone marrow is extracted from the patient and then spun down to concentrate the stem cells before being injected back into the body. 

This procedure is very powerful and can heal injuries that are many years old. 

It can be used to heal issues at the level of the bones as well as joints, cartilage or tendons and ligaments.  There is a large amount of debate online between those of us doing autologous cellular therapy vs. those doing amniotic cellular therapy.  Our perspective is that using your own healing cells is always preferable to using someone else’s.  Not only is autologous (from your own body) cellular therapy the only FDA approved way of doing it, but it just makes sense that using someone else’s tissues in your body could potentially have a bad result (and we have seen some).  Also living tissue is going to be preferred compared to something that has sat in a vial for months if not years with preservatives.  

So why choose The Osteopathic Way for your Regenerative Medicine procedures?  Because we are experts in a field that is relatively new in medicine.  Orthobiologics is literally the future of orthopedics – these procedures are already standard of care in the professional athlete realm and will likely because standard of care for everyone over the next couple of decades. 

We are a medical practice that values the healing potential in your body in all aspects and will work with your body to make you have the best results possible. 

We prepare your body ahead of time with Osteopathic Manipulation – making sure all the ‘kinks’ are worked out and the area of your body receiving a Regenerative Medicine injection is functioning at its most optimal level. 

We use functional medicine techniques and supplements to facilitate healing afterwards.  We use ultrasound to guide us in both our decision making and injections so there is no question that the precious substances are making their way to the exact right location. 

Why go to someone who just does PRP on the side of their main medical practice when you could go to the people who are trained to do these procedures and focus on it? 

Come see why we get the results we do – schedule an appointment today!