Traditional medical approaches in the treatment of acute and chronic disease have focused on alleviating pain and disability. It has often been the case that the underlying cause or process was never addressed and therefore treatment was not curative. The developing field of regenerative medicine represents the next evolution of treatment strategies in trying to alter the underlying course of disease. Using the body’s own natural and powerful ability to heal, combined with a multi-disciplinary approach including medical therapeutics, new innovation in biomaterials, tissue engineering, and translational research, we can now begin to address previously untreatable disease and injuries.
Prolotherapy, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), and Stem Cell therapies are three types of treatments used in musculoskeletal medicine that fall under the umbrella of regenerative medicine.
The focus of regenerative medicine is at the cellular level by utilizing unique cellular manipulation therapies. The goal is to “restore” a patient back to an optimal level of health instead of trying to just “repair” them.