Regenerative medicine is revolutionizing how we approach musculoskeletal health. This cutting-edge field, backed by leading institutions like the Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, and the Hospital for Special Surgery, has opened the door to innovative treatments using orthobiologics—therapies derived from your body’s own biological materials to heal and restore orthopedic conditions.
Cortisone... this subject has been a sore spot for me for many years. It is one that I feel passionately about as it directly opposes everything I believe and everything I know about medicine.
The field of regenerative medicine is complex. Patients often believe that the treatment they receive at one clinic is the same as another, that the latte at this Starbucks is the same as the latte at another.
The decision of how to treat medical conditions can be overwhelming. Many patients research all potential options. Others follow their doctor’s advice. Some just go with standard procedures.
Healthy function of joints is controlled by “chondrocytes,” mesenchymal stem cells that regulate replacement of damaged cells. When the balance between the supply of new cells is adequate to maintain healthy function, the body is in homeostasis. However, imbalance in this function leads to degeneration of tissue, such as osteoarthritis.
Patients often ask, "What are these procedures and how do they work?" Orthobiologic procedures use substances naturally occurring in the body to accelerate repair of tissue.
Renaissance means rebirth or regeneration. Every few generations medicine takes a major turn. We’re at one of those junctures now with regenerative medicine — where healing is triggered from within the human body. It’s bringing a whole new universe to how physicians provide care.
The majority of individuals (about 65%) experience some form of low back pain at some point in their lives, making this condition second only to upper respiratory illness as a cause for visiting a physician.1,2The low back is a complex network of spinal muscles, nerves, bones, discs and tendons in the lumbar spine that move together interdependently. Keeping this system mechanically aligned and held snuggly together allows for healthy function and pain-free movement. 3
CrossFit training is a beast unto itself. Perhaps, the strong communal nature of this sport helps to make it so. But, CrossFit entails more than just physical training… it is a way of life that views the body as a whole system rather than merely isolated structural elements.