Many new regenerative medical treatments are being used to treat pain by using the body’s own repair mechanisms. Regenerative medicine is helping injured workers return to better health – when standard health remedies just don’t see to work. Many athletes in a wide variety of sports are already using regenerative medicine so they can get back to the basketball court, tennis court, or playing field earlier than they usually could.
Regenerative medicine has been used in the past. It’s been used for organ transplants and bone marrow transplants. Newer sciences and technologies are helping regenerative medicine expand the possible solutions to helping individuals, including workers, with serious health problems.
Regenerative medicine is a methodology that helps the human body regenerate, replace, and even engineer human cells, tissues, and organs. The key behind regenerative medicine is that the body uses its own repair methods to heal parts of the body that were previously thought to be incapable of healing. Regenerative medicine now includes helping tissues and organs grow in a laboratory so they can be later implanted inside humans. In this way, regenerative medicine can reduce the dependence on relying on foreign donors and the complications with the body accepting a foreign tissue or organ.
Regenerative incorporates many sciences including computer science, genetics, chemistry, biology, and robotics.
Different types of regeneration
There are different types of regenerative medicine:
- Rejuvenation. The aim with this type of medicine is to help the patient’s body heal itself. A common example is when you suffer a cut and the skin heals around the cut. Scientists are now using a person’s own cells to help nerves and even organs self-heal
- Replacement. This type of regenerative medicine uses cells, tissues, and healthy organs from a donor (living or recently deceased) to replace the damages cells, tissues, or organs. Some transplants, such as liver and heart transplants, are fairly common. Regenerative is more than just the transplant. It is the goal to help the transplants work better by minimizing complication such as rejection or infection.
- New regeneration. Here, cell-therapy is the mechanism for delivering cells to diseases parts of the anatomy. The cells then help restore the damaged areas of the body. Stem cells are used for this type of regenerative medicine. Stem cells can be developed/used to regenerate brain cells, lung cells, skin cells, and other cells.
The most common types of stem cells are adult stem cells (the worker/patient uses his/her own cells) and embryonic stem cells. Stem cell sources can be used from blood, bone marrow, fat, skeletal muscle, and other sources. Some stem cells are more versatile than other stem cells. New methods and techniques are constantly being developed and refined.
Another type of regenerative is platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy
Another type of regenerative medicine is the use of PRP therapy. PRP is usually combined with diet and physical therapy.
The idea behind PRP therapy is that you blood includes plasma (the red liquid part), white and red cells, and platelets. The platelets help blood clot. They also have proteins which are a key ingredient in helping injuries health. The PRP technique aims to enrich the plasma with the beneficial platelets. The enrichment method uses your own blood – which works much better than using somebody else’s blood.
The main steps used to enrich the plasma with the platelets are:
- Blood is taken from you (in the same way it is taken when you have a blood test).
- The blood is then prepared. The platelets are separated so their concentration level can rise. A process called centrifugation is used to separate and improve the concentration level of the platelets.
- The PRP combination is then used to treat the part of the body that needs repair or help. Doctors generally use a fluoroscope to guide the PRP injection into the correct spot
- The doctor usually injects the PRP with a local anesthetic to reduce the initial discomfort.
- It can take a few weeks before the patient begins to experience improvement.
PRP is also sometimes used after a patient has a surgery to improve the ability of the patient to heal.
PRP therapy has been shown to help patients with muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries. It is helping patients with chronic pain. The ability of PRP to help with other injuries such as fractures is still being researched.
Many patients need multiple injections – two to six. Workers who undergo PRP therapy usually experience little pain with the process. The PRP process is minimally invasive. Often, it can be done in an ambulatory surgery center instead of a hospital. Often, if a worker does experience pain, an anti-inflammatory medication can help.
The good news is that when PRP works, the relief is long-term. Patients who have PRP therapy should generally avoid exercise until the healing process is finished (additional time isn’t making the patient feel any better). A key advantage to PRP therapy is that by using your own blood, patients shouldn’t experience allergic reactions. There is a possibility of infection, bleeding, and nerve damage. PRP is not an initial remedy. It is usually recommended only after more standard treatments fail to work.
At the North Carolina and Virginia Law Office of Joe Miller, Esq. we work with your doctors to understand your medical problems, and to understand what treatments you need. Often, employers will try to force you back to work before you’re ready. We work with your physicians to show that you do more time to explore all the options available to improve your health for the long-term. For help with all parts of you workers’ compensation claim, call attorney Joe Miller at 1-(888) 694-1671 or complete my contact form to schedule a free consult.
