Well-known regenerative medicine innovations, from stem cell therapy to platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, have been accessible for patients to treat several illnesses.
These, however, come with a very hefty price tag. Yes, they are effective and have little or no side effects, but imagine the weight of these on your wallet should you undergo treatment for months or even years.
Fortunately, there are several inexpensive regenerative medicine alternatives that you can consider. Of course, research is needed before anything else. Consulting with your family doctor is also advisable before signing up for the treatment.
Prolotheraphy
Prolotherapy is an alternative to stem cell therapy which involves injecting a small amount of irritant, such as a dextrose and saline solution, into a patient’s sore joint or muscle.
The body identifies the injected irritant and sends immune cells and other chemicals to the affected area, causing inflammation, and begins to stimulate it to heal.
Prolotherapy repairs any damaged soft tissue in a patient’s affected joint or muscles — a perfect treatment if they are healing from a sports-related injury, experiencing osteoarthritis or chronic lower back pain.
However, prolotherapy has mild side effects. These include minor pain in the injected area, bleeding and occasional numbness.
Neural Prolotheraphy
Also called perineural injection therapy, neural prolotherapy has the same process as prolotherapy.
But unlike the latter which targets sore joints and muscles, neural prolotherapy treatment injects the dextrose solution below the skin.
The injected dextrose solution acts as an analgesic that blocks neuropathic pain and decreases pain signals to the spinal cord and the brain.
If administered correctly, a neural prolotherapy treatment should reduce inflammation, heal the cutaneous nerves and restore tissue function.
The treatment is also safe for diabetes patients as the injected dextrose solution should not increase their blood glucose levels.
Viscosupplementation
Viscosupplementation involves injecting a thick gel-like fluid called hyaluronic acid into a knee joint.
The hyaluronic acid then restores the viscosity and elasticity of the osteoarthritic synovial fluid, lubricating the knee joint and improving its mobility. Patients with osteoarthritis should benefit from viscosupplementation.
Side effects of viscosupplementation may include temporary pain and fluid accumulation at the injected knee, swelling, redness, rashes and bruising around the joint.
Adipose-derived Stem Cell Theraphy
Instead of the bone marrow from the iliac crest in the pelvis, doctors harvest stem cells from adipose or fat for this therapy.
Once injected, the adipose-derived stem cells enhance cell regeneration, accelerate wound healing and reduce inflammation.
Several medical studies also revealed that adipose-derived stem cell therapy helps the body reconstruct and regenerate several organs, bones, cartilage and skin.
Amniotic Injections
Amniotic injections are another stem cell therapy alternative that uses the amniotic membrane harvested from the inner layer of the placenta.
These injections contain substances that help the tissues inside the body to regenerate such as cytokines, growth factors, fibrinogen, collagen, hyaluronic acid and messenger RNA.
Once injected, the amniotic membrane accelerates wound healing, fights inflammation, and helps control pain.
Patients with a history of tendonitis, bursitis, sprains, strains, and cartilage tears should benefit from the amniotic injections.
