We’re born with all the tools we need to heal our own injuries. As we age, our bodies forget these paths. Professionals who work in orthobiologics, also known as regenerative medicine, use your cells to boost natural healing.
“It can help anyone from a teenager with jumper’s knee to a person who’s 90 with arthritis,” said orthopedics specialist Jonathan Buchanan, MD, Avera Orthopedics Sioux Falls.
Injections of both tissues and cells are administered directly into injured tendons, ligaments or joints, where your body can immediately put the material to use to reduce inflammation, heal injury or reduce pain. Treatment can improve blood flow and promote soft cartilage growth at the site of pain or injury.
How Orthobiologics Works
This unique treatment approach takes place in a clinic visit. After exams and images, exercise on a treadmill or elliptical machine, takes place. “Activity increases the level of blood platelets,” Buchanan explained. The team draws your blood, then processes it in a laboratory machine (a centrifuge) that can separate and concentrate parts of the blood.
The care team uses ultrasound imaging to find the location for reinjection. The most common methods used include:
- Cell injections: These minimally invasive procedures treat tendon pain using bone marrow aspirate (BMA) cells found in the bone marrow located in your pelvis or adipose derived cells (ADC), that are fat cells found under the skin in your abdominal area.
- Tissue injections: They can add healing and reduce inflammation, support tissue regrowth and prevent the development of scar tissue.
- Placental tissue matrix injections: In these cases, donated human placental tissue is injected to help reduce your pain, inflammation or injury.
