Your muscles contract and relax throughout the day. These natural muscle movements assist in musculoskeletal control, but what happens when there’s too much tension in your muscles? Extreme muscle contractions can lead to neck and shoulder pain, especially if you’re under a lot of stress. If you can feel a hard, inflamed spot in your shoulders, you may be dealing with a painful shoulder knot. Here’s what you can do to relieve that bothersome muscle tension.
Relieve Your Shoulder Knot with a Deep Tissue Massage
Massage therapists are trained in releasing tight muscle knots. If you’re dealing with a persistent shoulder knot, consider getting a deep tissue massage. It can be difficult to reach your shoulders by yourself at the depths you need, so going to a licensed massage therapist is best.
Deep tissue massages relax the deepest layers of your muscles. They may feel uncomfortable in the moment, but afterward, you’ll experience intense muscle relaxation.
Self-Massage Techniques
If you can’t get to a massage therapist, use a hard ball (like a baseball) to work the tension out of your shoulders. You can do this by placing the ball between your shoulders and a wall and pressing into the ball with your body weight.
Alternatively, you can use a vibrating massage tool to work the tension out of your shoulders. Ask a friend or partner for help if you can’t reach the knot with the instrument.
Alternate Hot and Cold to Reduce Inflammation
Tense shoulder knots are usually inflamed, which leads to redness and soreness in the area. To relieve inflammation, alternate between hot and cold exposure. Use a heating pad for 10 to 20 minutes, then replace it with an ice pack for the same amount of time.
Alternating between heat and cold reduces swelling in your body. When you apply heat, your muscles relax, and blood flows to the area. After you apply a cold compress, your blood vessels constrict, which helps relieve painful inflammation in your shoulders.
You may find that this releases the shoulder knot on its own. However, most people must try other therapies to fully get rid of tense muscle knots.
Reduce Stress and Clear Your Mind
It might sound counterproductive to focus on your mental health while you’re experiencing physical pain. However, shoulder knots often form because of stress. If you carry psychological stress in your neck and shoulders, your muscles are more likely to tense up and create knots.
Try different stress relief techniques to reduce tension and allow your muscles to fully relax. You can try a hot bath, journaling, meditation, and yoga.
Stretch Your Shoulders and Neck
As you’re doing yoga to try to relax, opt for some deep neck and shoulder stretches. Always pay attention to your comfort levels as you do this. Stretches shouldn’t hurt, although you may experience mild soreness from the shoulder knot.
Use a yoga block if you need extra support, relax your muscles, and allow the stretches to gently pull your shoulder muscles out of the painful knot.
Trigger Point Therapy
Your body has specific spots that carry muscle tension and tightness. These are called trigger points. Pressing on trigger points may relax the muscles that are creating your shoulder knot. You can visit an acupuncturist or press your trigger points yourself.
Everyone’s body is different, but there are some widely recognized trigger points along your back and neck. Pressing these may relax your shoulder muscles and get rid of the inflamed knot.
The back of your neck and several spots along your spine contain trigger points. Experiment with safe amounts of pressure to see which ones feel relaxing to your shoulder muscles. You may need a friend or partner to help you press these trigger points.
Another way to put pressure on trigger points is to use an acupressure mat. These mats contain small plastic spikes that press into your muscles and relieve tension over time. Laying on an acupressure mat can produce similar benefits to acupuncture and trigger point therapy.
Medication: Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers
If you’ve tried everything and your shoulder knot is still causing you pain, you can try over-the-counter medication. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are affordable and work to reduce inflammation throughout your body. With less inflammation in your shoulders, you could experience blissful pain relief.
The downside to this method is that the pain relief is temporary. Once the over-the-counter medication wears off, you’ll have to take another dose to experience relief. Medication can help for short periods, but it’s best to address the underlying cause of your muscle knots to get rid of them for good.
Reduce Inflammation and Muscular Pain With Stem Cell Treatments
Sports injuries, orthopedic problems, and musculoskeletal conditions can all lead to muscle knots and pain. Stem cell therapy assists in reducing inflammation and relieving discomfort so you can experience a better quality of life.
Stem cells can form into almost any type of specialized body cell. This adaptability means they play a key role in regenerating damaged tissues, which can help people with sports injuries and other muscular problems.
If you experience chronic inflammation and pain, stem cell therapy offers a drug-free alternative for you to try. These treatments often use your own stem cells, so there’s minimal risk of adverse side effects. Alternatively, you may use donor stem cells.
Prevent and Treat Shoulder Knots and Muscle Tension
Your muscles can form knots for many different reasons. What’s important is addressing the root causes of your chronic inflammation and muscle pain.
No matter what path you choose, it’s important to reduce mental stress and keep your body healthy. Gentle physical activity can improve your mobility and reduce your chances of developing muscle knots in the future.
If at-home techniques and treatments aren’t working, you may need a more advanced solution, like regenerative medicine. Consider what works best for you and work toward a pain-free life.
Parkinson’s disease causes nervous system complications. If you know someone who has struggled with this disease, you know how debilitating it can be. Parkinson’s affects mood, memory, cognition, and movement.
Fortunately, science is always advancing, and experts are learning more about Parkinson’s disease. Here are seven ways to help prevent Parkinson’s disease that are backed by scientific research.
1. Do Cardio Regularly
Cardiovascular exercise is linked to many other health benefits, but one of the most notable is reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease. Aerobic exercise, even in mild forms like walking or jogging, boosts your brain health. This improves and protects your memory, concentration, mood, and cognitive abilities as you age.
Cardio has an anti-inflammatory effect on your entire body. This is significant because researchers believe that Parkinson’s is the result of excess inflammation, among other factors. By getting a moderate to high amount of aerobic exercise each week, you can help protect yourself from developing this debilitating disease.
2. Relieve Stress in Healthy Ways
Psychological stress can be just as harmful as physical stress. Between the demands of work, family life, social circles, and hobbies, many modern Americans are more stressed than ever before.
It’s essential to reduce stress to stay healthy throughout your lifetime. Chronic high stress levels can contribute to whole-body inflammation, which is a serious risk factor for Parkinson’s disease.
Stress also reduces the volume of brain matter in areas that control memory, cognition, and movement, which are all negatively affected by Parkinson’s disease. By regularly combating stress, you can protect your brain and reduce your chances of developing this problematic condition.
Some healthy forms of stress relief include:
Exercise
Journaling
Meditation
Yoga
Self-care days
Getting at least eight hours of sleep at night
Spending time outdoors
Engaging in hobbies
These activities help you stay well-adjusted and free of stress, which weighs down your mental and physical health over time. Consider making changes in your life that cut out large sources of stress whenever possible.
3. Fill Your Plate with Veggies
Most people know that vegetables are extremely healthy. If you struggle to get your daily servings of veggies in, this information might make you reconsider your habits.
Vegetables naturally contain antioxidants, which are anti-inflammatory compounds that protect against aging and tissue damage. Filling your plate with vegetables increases your intake of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. All of these micronutrients contribute to better brain health and anti-aging.
When it comes to Parkinson’s prevention, this is one of the most effective steps you can take. If taste is an issue, consider adding more flavors to your meals to offset the taste of vegetables. You can also add seasoning and heart-healthy oils to make vegetables taste better.
4. Avoid Pesticides and Other Harsh Chemicals
Modern agriculture has changed a lot as humanity has progressed past the hunter-gatherer days. This means that crop growers are using more chemical pesticides than ever before. The long-term effects of these chemicals on human health are overwhelmingly negative.
Some studies have linked higher rates of Parkinson’s disease with high exposure to pesticides in farmers. The harsh chemicals used in large-scale agriculture are designed to keep bugs away from crops, but they can harm your brain health in the process.
To avoid this problem, shop organic and local whenever possible. Be mindful that many organic products can still contain certain pesticides. It’s best to shop at your local farmer’s markets and small grocery stores rather than chains.
These steps will help you access high-quality produce without exposing yourself to harsh, damaging chemicals.
5. Increase Your Vitamin D Intake
Vitamin D is incredibly important for immunity, mood, bone health, and brain health. Research has shown strong connections between Parkinson’s disease and low vitamin D levels. Now more than ever, getting enough vitamin D in your diet is essential.
You get some vitamin D from sunlight. The sun’s rays boost the amount of vitamin D in your bloodstream through chemical changes.
However, too much sun exposure is linked to skin cancer and other serious health problems. You should always wear sunscreen while spending extended amounts of time outdoors, and this can reduce the amount of vitamin D you get from the sun.
You should aim to get most of your vitamin D from your diet and supplements. Healthy sources of animal fat naturally contain lots of vitamin D. Opt for meats and dairy products that have “grass-fed” or “free-range” on the labels. These animals and their products are healthier and richer in vitamin D than factory-farmed animals.
If you struggle to get enough vitamin D in your diet, work with your doctor to find an appropriate supplement. Always consult a medical professional before starting a new medication or supplement.
6. Get Plenty of Sleep
Sleep is the most restorative and reparative process your body undergoes. Without enough sleep, your brain health is sure to suffer. Your memory, cognition, mood, and physical performance all rely on an adequate amount of sleep.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, so it makes sense that chronic lack of sleep can raise your chances of developing it.
Healthy adults should get seven to nine hours of sleep every night. Your sleep needs may be slightly different from the recommended range. It’s important to pay attention to how you feel when you wake up.
If you wake up groggy, tired, and sluggish even after eight hours of sleep, chances are you need more. On the other hand, some people can thrive on seven to eight hours of sleep with no problems.
Sleep will protect your brain health and fight inflammation that can lead to Parkinson’s disease. Make getting plenty of shut-eye a strong priority in your life — your brain will thank you later.
7. Drink Coffee or Green Tea
Caffeine seems to have a protective effect against developing Parkinson’s disease. It’s important to get high-quality sources of caffeine. Otherwise, you may notice sleep disturbances and cardiovascular side effects. Avoid sugary, caffeinated beverages like energy drinks and soda.
Green tea and coffee both have antioxidants, which reduce inflammation and promote better brain health. You don’t have to give up your daily fix to fight Parkinson’s — in fact, it may help!
Know the Facts About Parkinson’s Disease
Stay updated on the latest information about Parkinson’s disease to reduce your risk of developing it. If you or a loved one are already struggling with Parkinson’s, therapeutic treatments like stem cell therapy may help. Ultimately, knowledge is power when it comes to fighting neurodegenerative diseases.
The National Library of Medicine states that 10% of people over 55 in the United States have disabling knee osteoarthritis. If you are one of these people, finding the right treatment can be challenging, especially if you don’t want to become dependent on pain medications or go through an invasive knee surgery.
For some, surgery can be the only option, but for many others, some management strategies and less invasive options could offer relief from symptoms.
What Is Knee Osteoarthritis? Understanding the Symptoms and Causes
Osteoarthritis of the knee occurs when the cartilage in your knee joint starts to break down. This causes the bones to rub together, leading to stiffness, swelling, and pain that can interfere with your life.
Women are more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis, as are people over the age of 40, but genetics and other factors can cause it in younger people.
Pain is the most common symptom of this condition, but there are other signs, including:
A puffy or swollen knee
Hearing a grinding or cracking noise when you move
Knee stiffness
Knee that locks up or feels stuck
Knee that feels wobbly
There can be many causes of knee osteoarthritis. Having a body mass index of 30 or more puts pressure on your knees and can cause inflammation. This inflammation can lead to arthritis or make existing arthritis worse.
You can also develop this condition if you suffer a knee injury or have a prior knee injury. If you have close relatives who’ve had knee osteoarthritis, you’re also more likely to struggle with this problem.
If you frequently put stress on your knees, whether by playing sports or as a result of your job, you can also develop osteoarthritis in your knee.
Treating Knee Osteoarthritis
If you have signs of osteoarthritis, there are a number of treatment options you can talk to your doctor about.
Maintaining a Healthy Weight
If you have risk factors that can increase your chances of developing knee osteoarthritis or if you already have the condition, ensuring your weight is healthy is vital. The Arthritis Foundation states that being just 10 pounds overweight can put 15 to 50 pounds of extra weight on your knees. That makes the development of osteoarthritis more likely.
Losing weight allows you to reduce some of that strain on your knee joints. Aside from that, losing weight also helps reduce inflammation throughout the body, which can help with arthritis.
Getting Regular Exercise
Those who have knee osteoarthritis can also benefit from getting regular exercise. It can help you lose weight, increase your mobility, and build up muscle strength to support your knee joints.
It is important to choose low-impact aerobics options that are suitable for your health level. These can include:
Swimming
Cycling
Yoga
Stretching
Walking
Riding a stationary bike can be very helpful for maintaining strength in the hamstring muscle groups without putting extra pressure on your knee. It’s best to have a doctor or physical therapist at your side to help you put together an exercise plan.
Using Medications for Pain and Swelling Relief
For people who are dealing with a lot of pain and swelling, one option is to turn to medications. Over-the-counter painkillers are one option, and many of them offer anti-inflammatory properties that help with the swelling that might be impeding you from moving freely.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen, as well as acetaminophen for those who can’t take NSAIDs, can be helpful for osteoarthritis pain.
If these aren’t effective, there are prescription options your doctor could recommend. These may include opioids and even injectable steroids for people with severe inflammation.
Prescription medications can cause side effects. Because they don’t actually do anything to heal your body and only help you manage the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis, the moment you stop taking them, the pain and inflammation will usually return.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses the platelets in your blood, which have clotting abilities and can stimulate many healing processes.
By separating the platelets from the other components in your blood, like white blood cells, red blood cells, and more, and concentrating them in the liquid portion of your blood, you can give the treatment area a boost of growth factors. These growth factors encourage the healing process.
Stem cell therapy uses stem cells gathered from your fat or bone marrow to stimulate the regeneration of damaged tissue. Stem cells have endless regenerative powers, and they’re able to transform into the exact type of cells you need.
Regenerative medicine offers the chance to decrease inflammation in the area, allowing blood to flow more freely and bring with it oxygen and nutrients. Less inflammation can also mean less pain because you aren’t putting as much pressure on nearby nerves.
Another benefit of regenerative medicine is that it is minimally invasive, so you don’t have to worry about a long recovery period. Most people are good candidates for this type of procedure as well.
Choosing Surgery
In severe cases, surgery may be the only way to treat knee osteoarthritis. You can get arthroscopic surgery, which is less invasive because it uses an arthroscope. This is a small camera that guides the surgeon in repairing the damaged area.
A total knee replacement can be another option. It can be done as minimally invasive or open surgery, depending on your overall health.
Stem cell therapy can still apply as a post-surgery option to help speed up recovery and manage inflammation and pain during the healing process.
Getting Relief from Knee Osteoarthritis Symptoms
If you are struggling with knee osteoarthritis, getting relief from the inflammation and pain can mean considering all available treatment options. By turning to your doctor, you can make sure you have the best chance of achieving the help you deserve.
In the United States, about 30 million men have some form of erectile dysfunction, according to research conducted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Erectile dysfunction can occur in men of any age, though it’s most common in those who are older. Despite this, it’s not a normal part of aging. There are many causes of erectile dysfunction, from emotional to physical. However, most people are unaware of a few risk factors that could affect your chances of developing this condition.
Understanding Erectile Dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is a condition in which you are not able to get or maintain an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse. It can be a long-term or short-term problem.
There are a few types of erectile dysfunction. One type is vascular erectile dysfunction, which results from issues with the blood vessels that send blood to the penis or the valves that hold blood. This is the most common form of erectile dysfunction.
Neurogenic erectile dysfunction occurs as a result of nerve problems that stop signals from traveling from your brain to your penis. It can occur after trauma, radiation therapy, or conditions like spinal stenosis and multiple sclerosis.
Hormonal erectile dysfunction occurs when you experience testosterone deficiencies, while psychogenic erectile dysfunction involves psychological causes.
Surprising Risk Factors for Erectile Dysfunction
Most men are aware that blood pressure issues, antidepressants, and even drinking alcohol can cause erectile dysfunction. Still, there are some surprising factors that can make your chances of dealing with this problem more likely.
1. Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a condition in which your breathing stops and restarts many times as you sleep. This irregularity leads to poor rest. Scientists have noticed that men who have sleep apnea have a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction.
The reason is not entirely clear, but it could be because the lack of sleep leads to dips in testosterone levels. Sleep apnea also restricts oxygen. Testosterone and oxygen are both crucial for maintaining healthy erections.
Sleep apnea also leads to fatigue and potentially higher stress levels, all of which impact sexual function. Scientists have found that treating obstructive sleep apnea can also help erectile dysfunction symptoms.
2. High Cholesterol
Having high blood cholesterol levels could also put you at a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction. Perhaps the most common cause is the narrowing of blood vessels, also called atherosclerosis. High cholesterol levels can make this more likely to occur.
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance in the blood that your cell membranes need and that helps produce certain hormones, bile acids, and vitamin D. At high levels, however, cholesterol builds up in artery walls and causes plaque, which narrows them.
When that occurs, your penis doesn’t receive the amount of blood it needs to get and maintain an erection.
3. Cycling
Although maintaining an active lifestyle tends to help with erectile dysfunction, cycling could be causing more harm than good.
Hard bicycle seats often press on the perineum, which is the area between the scrotum and the anus, causing a compression of blood vessels. The compression makes it more difficult for the penis to get the needed blood flow.
Scientists recommend using a softer seat or taking shorter rides to prevent the problem. Make sure to speak with your doctor about this if you suspect cycling could be causing erectile dysfunction issues.
4. Canned Foods
Perhaps one of the most surprising risk factors of erectile dysfunction is the frequent eating of canned foods. Cans that hold food often contain the chemical bisphenol-A, also called BPA. BPA can affect your hormones, stimulating the production of female sex hormones and suppressing male sex hormones.
5. Certain Medications
Lots of medications have the potential to affect sexual function, especially in men. This is because they can interfere with hormone pathways.
One of these types of medications is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These medications are antidepressants that function by increasing the levels of serotonin in the body, elevating your mood. The problem is that serotonin decreases sex drive.
Blood pressure medications may also affect sexual function. Diuretics or ACE inhibitors decrease the blood flow that reaches the penis, making an erection more difficult to achieve.
Other medications that could affect sexual function are those that treat Parkinson’s disease, antihistamines, and even non-steroidal anti-inflammatory disease. It is always a good idea to speak with your doctor about the side effects of any medications you take and to work with them to find alternatives.
6. Leading a Sedentary Lifestyle
Another factor that can put you at risk of developing erectile dysfunction is leading a sedentary lifestyle. Being sedentary can cause decreased blood flow. Not leading an active life also makes it harder for your heart to function at its best.
Even moderate exercise stimulates your body to produce nitric oxide, which is a short-lasting chemical that keeps your arteries open, including the ones that allow blood to flow into your penis.
A sedentary lifestyle is associated with higher levels of fat in the body. The more fat you have, the more estrogen your body is likely to produce, which means your testosterone levels dip. It can also lead to a higher risk of developing diabetes, which impacts insulin resistance and makes the development of erectile dysfunction more likely.
Treating Erectile Dysfunction
Struggling with erectile dysfunction can affect your self-esteem, moods, and relationships. If you are dealing with this issue, it’s essential to reach out to your doctor for help.
One option that offers the chance to get relief from erectile dysfunction is regenerative medicine. Regenerative medicine treatments like stem cell therapy focus on doing more than just treating the symptoms of the condition: they can help to treat the underlying problem that led to erectile dysfunction issues in the first place.
If you are dealing with erectile dysfunction, consider asking your doctor about regenerative medicine. With these minimally invasive treatments, you could allow your body to start healing itself.
Regenerative medicine options like stem cell treatments are growing in popularity both because of their potential effectiveness and because they can help you avoid invasive procedures like surgeries. Stem cell therapies focus on helping your body improve what it already does naturally — heal injuries.
Stem cells are the cells from which all differentiated cells form. They can come from your bone marrow or fat, with some people also turning to umbilical cord stem cells for treatment. But how do you know if you could benefit from stem cell therapy?
Those With Sports Injuries
If you play sports, you know that injuries can occur at any moment. You can twist your body in an unnatural way or suffer an impact that damages joints or ligaments. Minor injuries usually benefit from ice packs and rest, but healing can take time.
Healing is also a delicate process that can be disrupted. If that occurs, the injury might not heal completely and could lead to chronic issues that impact your mobility and even cause lasting pain.
When you turn to stem cell therapies, you can speed up the healing process. This type of regenerative medicine helps reduce inflammation, making it easier for nutrients and oxygen to get to the site of the injury.
Increased oxygen and nutrients are particularly important when dealing with ligaments and cartilage, which naturally don’t receive much blood flow.
Those With Arthritis
Arthritis is a debilitating condition in which your joints’ cartilage starts to deteriorate. The cartilage is what cushions your joints, preventing the bones from rubbing against one another. Once the cartilage breaks down, you can experience pain, stiffness, and mobility issues. In some cases, it can even cause joint deformity.
Stem cells, especially mesenchymal stem cells, release anti-inflammatory factors that help with pain and encourage your body to heal the damaged areas. Stem cells injected into the affected joint can reduce swelling, helping reduce pain and also restoring some mobility to stiff joints.
One of the best things about stem cell therapies for arthritis is that this kind of treatment is minimally invasive.
Those With Spinal Cord Injuries
Spinal cord injuries may severely impact your quality of life. You may struggle to perform everyday tasks and could face mobility issues that leave you dependent on others.
Spinal cord injuries are particularly difficult to treat because healing tends to plateau as a result of microenvironmental changes like inflammation, glial scar formation, and more. Stem cells can help because of their power to reduce inflammation, allowing the healing process to continue.
Ongoing treatment with stem cells could offer an improvement in mobility and a reduction in pain levels.
Those With Traumatic Injuries
After a major injury, like one that results from a car accident, healing can seem impossible. You may experience significant pain and could be dealing with mobility concerns that require physical therapy and even surgery.
Stem cell therapy works well in conjunction with physical therapy and other treatments because it utilizes cells from your body gathered in a minimally invasive way. You can continue other therapeutic programs while giving your body the chance to reduce inflammation so that blood can reach the injury site.
A better level of blood flow to the area not only brings nutrients and oxygen but also helps flush out toxins at the injury site that could make the symptoms worse.
Those Who’ve Gone Through Surgery
Going through surgery can put a lot of strain on your body. That is one of the reasons why the recovery process is often so long. If you’ve been through a surgical procedure, consider stem cell therapy.
Stem cell therapy can help reduce the recovery time so that you can start feeling more like yourself again. Inflammation is a huge concern. Think of the kinds of bruising you may have after a surgical procedure. Although stem cell therapy can’t prevent all inflammation and bruising, its use after surgery can reduce how much you experience.
If there’s less inflammation, the area can receive more nutrients and experience faster healing.
Those Who Need Joint Replacements
Replacing a joint is a surgical procedure that requires the implantation of an artificial joint and the removal of the damaged one. The recovery process for this type of procedure tends to be difficult, with many people experiencing mobility issues even as they heal because the artificial part hasn’t really integrated into the rest of the tissue.
If this type of surgery is something that you have to go through, adding stem cell therapy to the recovery process makes a difference. Stem cell therapies encourage the growth of new tissues around the artificial replacement that can make mobility easier and decrease pain, helping you get back to your life more rapidly.
Those With Degenerative Diseases
Degenerative diseases are chronic conditions that progressively get worse. They include diseases like:
For these conditions, a combination of treatments is usually most effective. They can include medications, physical therapy, and even surgery. By also turning to stem cell therapy, you have the chance to tackle the underlying cause of the problem so that you can get relief from symptoms.
Stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease, for example, focuses on helping restore the failing neurons that are in charge of producing dopamine. This could help with the management of dopamine levels and could even restore some function. In many instances, stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s can even slow down the disease.
Is Stem Cell Therapy Right for You?
Stem cell therapy might be able to offer the help you need with managing degenerative conditions, healing injuries, and providing pain relief that doesn’t rely on narcotics. You don’t have to worry about suffering allergic reactions or rejections because stem cell therapies usually rely on cells from your body.
If you’re considering stem cell treatments or want to know more about what the process involves and what you can expect, talk with a regenerative medicine specialist about the options available.
For the treatment of a variety of health conditions, one option more people are relying on is regenerative medicine. This field focuses on helping your body’s natural healing process function at its best, making it possible for tissues to regenerate so that you can obtain pain relief and improve mobility. There are various types of regenerative medicine. Learn more about them to know the choices you have.
Regenerative Medicine: What It Is and What It’s Used For
Regenerative medicine is a group of treatments focused on healing tissues throughout the body while also restoring the function you may have lost because of aging, medical conditions, and more.
When you’re young, your body is able to heal more efficiently, but the older you get, the longer the healing process can take. In some instances, this longer length of time even leads to the development of chronic pain issues that can be tough to deal with.
With regenerative medicine, you get the chance to try minimally invasive treatments that can offer results. Most of the best regenerative medicine options focus on stem cells, but some also rely on your blood’s components to provide lasting results.
Regenerative medicine can offer help for many types of issues, including:
The kind of condition you have may dictate the type of regenerative treatment that has the potential to be most effective.
The Different Kinds of Regenerative Medicine Therapies
There are many regenerative medicine therapies to choose from, but some of the most trusted include stem cell therapy, platelet-rich plasma, and prolotherapy.
What Is Stem Cell Therapy?
Stem cell therapy is a treatment option that utilizes stem cells to promote healing. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can create specialized ones. They have the ability to self-renew and create functional tissues, working as the body’s repair system.
During stem cell therapy, your healthcare provider injects stem cells into the treatment area. There are different types of stem cells, including adult stem cells and embryonic stem cells.
Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells found in various tissues throughout the body, including fat and bone marrow. They have a more limited ability to differentiate than embryonic stem cells, but they are much more readily available because they come from your body.
Mesenchymal stem cells are found in fat and bone marrow, among other tissues, and they can help the body respond to inflammation and promote healing.
What Is Platelet-Rich Plasma?
Your blood is made up of a few components, including:
White blood cells
Red blood cells
Plasma
Platelets
Plasma is the liquid portion of blood. Platelets are not actually cells but cell fragments that help with the clotting process and contain growth factors that can stimulate cellular reproduction as well as healing at the treatment site. Platelet-rich plasma refers to plasma that has more platelets than usual.
To create a PRP injection, your doctor takes a sample of your blood and runs it through a centrifuge. The centrifuge spins the sample very rapidly, dividing the blood components so that your doctor can extract the platelets and add them to the plasma. This is then injected at the treatment area.
PRP therapy can be a good option for the treatment of ligament injuries, osteoarthritis, post-surgical healing, and even hair loss.
These injections work to reduce inflammation at the treatment site, which allows better circulation. More blood flow means the area receives more nutrients and oxygen, helping with the healing process. Less inflammation also means less pain.
What Is Prolotherapy?
Prolotherapy is another type of regenerative medicine that can be used to relieve pain. It involves injecting a small amount of an irritant, like sugar, into the treatment area. This irritant trigger an immune response and jumpstarts your body’s natural ability.
It shows promise in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions, including issues with your bones, ligaments, soft tissues, and more.
Your body responds to the sugar or other irritant as a threat, triggering your immune and healing responses to rush to the area to remove the irritant and also begin the healing process.
Benefits of Regenerative Medicine
Regenerative medicine offers the chance to get relief from pain and inflammation without having to go through invasive procedures. Most regenerative medicine options require only a minimally invasive procedure, like providing a sample of blood or undergoing a mini liposuction procedure to obtain fat.
Because regenerative medicine procedures don’t require an elaborate process, you don’t have to worry about a long preparation or recovery period. You can usually get back to your normal life right after receiving treatment.
Regenerative medicine works to help manage the underlying cause of the pain you’re experiencing. It doesn’t just mask symptoms as pain medication and anti-inflammatories do. By offering the potential of healing injuries, it may be able to provide lasting relief.
Regenerative medicine is also more affordable than an invasive procedure like surgery. The surgery itself is costly, and the recovery can mean relying on physical therapies that add to the budget. That is not an issue you have to worry about with regenerative medicine options like stem cell therapy, PRP therapy, or prolotherapy.
Managing Pain and Inflammation with Regenerative Medicine
Regenerative medicine holds significant promise for the treatment of conditions that cause pain and inflammation. By relying on your natural healing process, regenerative medicine only improves what your body does.
If you’re considering regenerative medicine to help with any conditions you face, ask your healthcare provider about it to see if it’s a good choice for you.
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We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
Thanks for your interest!
Request Information Packet
We'll send your FREE information packet that outlines our entire personalized, stress-free stem cell treatment process!
St. Petersburg, Florida
