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Regenerative Medicine

Central Oregon Spine & Sports, LLC

Pain Management & Sports Medicine located in Bend, OR

Regenerative medicine is a cutting-edge field of study and treatments that seek to eliminate disease and restore health by reinforcing the body’s natural ability to heal itself. At Central Oregon Spine & Sports in Bend, Oregon, Philip Wallace, MD, uses a number of regenerative medicine solutions to help his patients reach optimal health and remain in peak physical condition. To learn more, schedule an appointment online or by phone today.

Regenerative Medicine Q & A

What is regenerative medicine?

The body’s ability to heal itself is remarkable. Skin-deep cuts and scrapes repair themselves, and a liver from a living donor can regenerate by itself in only a matter of weeks. Regenerative medicine seeks to harness the body’s natural, complex, and effective ability to heal itself and apply it to the treatment of various acute and chronic conditions.

What is prolotherapy?

Prolotherapy, otherwise known as regenerative injection therapy or proliferation therapy, is a type of regenerative medicine that’s used to repair ligaments and treat pain and stiffness in injured joints and connective tissues.

In prolotherapy, Dr. Wallace injects solutions of natural substances (like dextrose, saline, and/or sarapin) into the localized problem areas of your body. The injections work by triggering your body’s natural healing response in the injection area, which stimulates the growth of healthy, new ligaments and tendon fibers. These new tissues help to reduce your pain and stiffness while also increasing your strength, mobility, and function in the affected area.

Prolotherapy is particularly well-suited for treating whiplash, degenerative disc disease, and arthritis, and can be used in your neck, back, shoulders, hands, hips, pelvic floor, and knees.

What is platelet-rich plasma (PRP)?

Platelet-rich plasma is a regenerative medicine treatment that’s intended to help speed up the natural healing of your body’s tissues.

PRP is made from isolating and concentrating the plasma component of your own blood. The plasma is an element of your blood that contains special proteins, called “factors,” that are responsible for helping your blood to clot and for supporting new cell growth. It’s thought that injecting platelet-rich plasma into your damaged tissues helps your body to more quickly grow new, healthy cells, thereby promoting a faster, natural healing process.

PRP injections are used to treat a number of conditions, including:

  • Tendon injuries, like tennis elbow, Achilles tendinitis, patellar tendon pain, and jumper’s knee
  • Acute injuries, like knee sprains and pulled hamstrings
  • Hair loss, specifically androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness)
  • Osteoarthritis in the knee

PRP injections have also been used to aid the postsurgical repair in torn tendon and ACL operations.

What is exosome therapy?

Exosomes are small structures within your body’s cells that your body releases in response to particular injuries and damage. They serve as your body’s messengers, transferring information from one cell to another.

Exosomes have been discovered to play a significant role in how your blood forms clots, which has led regenerative medicine physicians and researchers to apply it in a number of treatments. It’s been particularly popular in helping to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

To learn more about how regenerative medicine can maximize your health, schedule an appointment online or by phone today with the medical professionals at Central Oregon Spine & Sports.