Unlocking the Potential of Regenerative Medicine: How it Works and What it Can Do

You don’t have to be a star athlete to get the most advanced regenerative treatment to help resolve your pain and return to an active life. So whether you’re an athlete at the elite, college or high school level, lead an active life, or are a weekend warrior, regenerative medicine can help you overcome pain, heal damaged tissue and help you return to the activities you enjoy.  

What is regenerative medicine?

Regenerative medicine works to enhance the body’s natural healing mechanisms through nutritional excellence, a healthy microbiome, resolution of stress, body alignment exercises, and regeneration of injured tissue. Modern medicine has made great strides in treating many conditions, but it has been unable to keep up with the needs of the population struggling with painful conditions of the muscular, joint and skeletal systems. Many of the current medical treatments are merely palliative including cortisone injections, pain medications, and a few surgeries. And in some cases, these treatments can worsen the condition and accelerate the degenerative process. 

Regenerative medicine is an innovative approach that works with the body’s natural healing systems to fully heal damaged tissue, resolve inflammation, and restore function by using injections like prolotherapy, PRP or Structural Tissue Products. 

It is a game-changer for many people searching for a sustainable solution to discomfort and pain. Regenerative medicine holds a key to the future of musculoskeletal medicine in providing natural, holistic, healing solutions to common conditions that cause pain and disability. 

Dr. Stoll is an internationally recognized leader in lifestyle medicine and whole plant-based nutrition and as the foundation for preventing, suspending, and reversing chronic disease. In addition, as a specialized sports medicine physician, he utilizes regenerative medicine procedures, such as prolotherapy and platelet-rich plasma injection therapy, to assist the body in healing damaged tissue and resolving painful conditions.  

During your consultation and treatment with Dr. Stoll at MaxWell Clinic you will receive a comprehensive, wholistic plan that addresses every aspect of healing your musculoskeletal system including; body alignment, muscular balance, tissue healing/restoration, exercise, stress, sleep, supplement guidance, and general wellness on an off the field of life. 

Regenerative Injection Therapy (RIT)

There are several types of regenerative injection treatments, including prolotherapy, PRP and Structural Tissue Products. Each of these techniques activates the body’s natural healing system to create a local healing environment that helps to resolve musculoskeletal injuries and arthritis. These procedures are minimally invasive for the treatment of muscle, tendon, and joint pain. Research has demonstrated healing for acute and chronic tendon, ligament, and cartilage injuries, including conditions like a torn meniscus, plantar fasciitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tennis elbow, as well as arthritic joint pain. C. Evert Koop, former United States surgeon general, was an outspoken proponent of RIT after resolving his painful back condition. Numerous professional, elite amateur, Olympic and recreational athletes have benefited from these treatments.

Prolotherapy

Prolotherapy has been used since the 1930s and is a well-recognized and established treatment for tightening and strengthening damaged and weak ligaments. As the ligaments heal, the pain resolves and stability improves, resolving muscle spasms and dysfunctional movement patterns. Prolotherapy requires the injection of a local anesthetic (procaine or lidocaine) plus 5-25% dextrose (sugar) onto the injured ligaments or tendons attachment sites on the bone, at the joint capsule, inside the joint, or in the myofascial layer. The procedure has been used on millions of patients and has been proven as safe as other types of injections commonly used in orthopedics. 

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)

Platelets are an important component of healing and act like a symphony conductor, directing cells and coordinating the regenerative process. PRP is a concentration of platelet-rich plasma obtained from whole blood through a centrifuge process that removes the red and white cells. Because it is a concentrate, it stimulates a brisk healing response. 

PRP contains several different types of growth factors that help stimulate the healing of tissues, including muscles, tendons, ligaments, and cartilage. There are many indications for PRP in sports medicine and orthopedics, including acute muscle or tendon tears, chronic tendinopathy, connective tissue injuries, small cartilage tears, and osteoarthritis. For preparing PRP, various protocols are used, with an underlying principle of concentrating platelets to 3–5 times physiological levels, then injecting this concentrate in the tissue where healing is desired. It typically takes 1-4 treatments to resolve the painful condition and is used in combination with dietary excellence, microbiome support, therapy, and supplements if needed.  

Structural Tissue Products

Structural Tissue Products are extremely small membrane-enclosed vesicles (containers), one thousandth the size of a cell, that contain the biologic message of their parent cells when injected into the body. Pre-clinical trials have demonstrated that Structural Tissue Products improve the function of aging, injured or diseased cells, tissues, and organs while encouraging healing within cells and tissues with long-term effects. 

Conditions that have been shown to improve with Regenerative Injection Therapy (RIT)

• Acute Sports injuries like muscle tears
• Arthritis pain
• Tendon injuries both chronic and acute
• Myofascial pain syndrome
• Chronic injuries
• Ligament injuries like whiplash syndrome
• Back injuries and pain
• Neck pain
• Headaches
• TMJ-Temporomandibular dysfunction

MaxWell Clinic in Brentwood, TN now offers Prolotherapy, Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and Structural Tissue Products as part of Dr. Stoll’s Regenerative Medicine services. If you are interested in scheduling a consultation with Dr. Stoll, please call us at 615-370-0091 and we will be happy to assist you.