The first question that comes to mind for most people that may read or hear about Regenerative Medicine is what types of problems can it treat? Second question is can it help me?
I would estimate that at least 80% of persistent or chronic musculoskeletal-type pain comes from damaged connective tissue. As we have already mentioned, the bony attachments of these tissues are highly innervated and exquisitely sensitive. These are the structures that give joint feedback and proprioception, without which coordinated movement would be impossible. When damaged, these structures are, by far, the biggest and most common pain generators in the musculoskeletal system. They are in fact a much more common source of pain than bone, cartilage or nerve structures.
It follows then, that if you have some sort of pain, it is highly likely that these structures are involved. For example back pain is highly likely to involve pelvic structures such as the pelvic attachments of the large gluteal muscles, the sacro-iliac joints, ilio-lumbar ligaments or the lumbar facets. Knee pain likewise, is highly likely to involve the medial or lateral collateral ligaments or the adjoining pes anserine structure that stabilizes the knee joint. Rotator cuff problems are likely to involve the attachments of the rotator cuff muscles on the scapula, the ac joint, anterior capsule, coracoid ligaments or the superior labral ligaments.
We can go on and on covering the whole body but you get the idea. The whole body is held together with ligaments and tendons. They are involved in everything. If you have some significant pain or loss of functionality they are almost always involved! Everything from foot pain, plantar fasciitis, ankle issues, Achilles, knee, hip, low back, mid back, neck, headache, shoulder, elbow, wrist – all these areas and issues can often lend themselves to treatment and healing through Regenerative Medicine.
To review, here are a few common types of problem I treat routinely in my practice.
- Foot & Ankle Problems: ankle sprain or weakness, plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis
- Knee Pain: whether due to arthritis, meniscal problem or ligament sprain
- Hip Pain: due to arthritis, bursitis or ligamentous sprain
- Low Back Pain: whether due to disc problem, sciatica or other cause
- Mid Back (thoracic & scapular) Pain
- Rotator Cuff Strain
- Wrist & Carpal Tunnel
- Neck Pain: (cervical) pain of all types whether due to disc or sprain
- Headache, migraine or otherwise (usually due to cervical structure sprain)
