Regenexx
Blogamniotic stem-cell scam
One of the most pervasive scams sweeping the nation today involves “amniotic stem-cell therapy.” Aggressive entrepreneurs are selling doctors what they claim are frozen vials of amniotic stem cells. In actuality, the vials contain dead tissue. Amniotic fluid comes...
osteoarthritis pain is all about the nerves
Yet another study proves—yet again—that osteoarthritis pain is not related to structure. At issue here is the orthopedic paradigm that pain is related to structure; that MRI findings like meniscus tears and cartilage damage associated with osteoarthritis are the cause...
what if hip surgery doesn’t work because the hip pain wasn’t caused by the hip?
The concept that hip labrum tears cause pain is relatively new in medicine. Despite that, the number of arthroscopic hip surgeries to treat hip labrum tears and impingement have exploded in the past five years. Have physicians become too zealous? A patient I evaluated...
does minimally invasive spine surgery really have a zero percent chance of making you worse?
A patient recently reported to her Regenexx doctor that she had spoken to people at a clinic called “North American Spine” and had been told that there was zero percent chance of her getting worse after a minimally invasive surgical procedure. That the clinic refused...
polyethylene hip-replacement devices linked to fewer stem cells
Beginning in the 1970s, doctors started putting all sorts of stuff into our bodies—pacemakers, valves, stents, artificial joints, etc. These were hailed as modern medical miracles when they first appeared on the scene, but what if the stuff they were made of is toxic...
how diabetes increases risk of bone fracture
Though previously under-estimated, the pervasive impact of blood sugar on multiple body systems has finally become the subject of many studies. In a study published July 13, 2015, by the medical journal Bone, researches looked at the bone’s ability to heal in the...
statin drugs are poison to stem cells
The wonder drug of the 20th century that’s poised to be the thalidomide of the 21st is statin cholesterol-lowering drugs. A study reported July 29, 2015, by the American Journal of Physiology—Cell Physiology shows why statin drugs are bad news for stem cells. Statin...
getting to the bottom of aging
Everyone ages. There are choices we can make to slow the process, but what causes aging in the first place? To answer that question we need to be able to examine and characterize what’s going on at the cellular level. A novel study was able to do just that by taking a...
common pain medication can interfere with healing
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used to treat osteoarthritis and sports injuries. There is a large variety of NSAIDs available, either over the counter or by prescription. Aspirin, Advil, Aleve, Celebrex, Motrin, and Indocin are just a few of...
men are at greater risk for heart attack after joint replacement
In the wake of all the studies demonstrating the incidence of serious risks and complications associated with hip- or knee-replacement surgery, a current study finds that men experience a much greater risk of heart attack following surgery for total hip or knee...
what hip arthritis?
Lynne is a force to be reckoned with, or perhaps she more accurately should be described as a redirected force. Her love is aikido, the Japanese martial art of redirecting an attacker’s forces back on him or her, using the opponent’s own energy to allow the smallest...
why baseball players are striking out using PRP to treat elbow injuries
An interesting article posted on the Sports Illustrated website June 27, 2013, suggested that one of the mainstays thought to help players avoid Tommy John surgery may be striking out. The gist of the article was that pitchers and other players have turned to...
exercise changes platelet growth factors
Love it or hate it, exercise makes a significant impact on health. Exercising and maintaining proper weight have a lot to do with the chemical environment within our joints, but can exercise positively change the makeup of the platelet-rich plasma (PRP) used to treat...
can stem cells help a patient with failed knee surgery?
Many patients who undergo knee surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear the surgical graft. Can a precise stem-cell injection under advanced-imaging guidance help such postoperative tears? This is the story of a college soccer player who found...
weight affects the outcome of knee-replacement surgery
Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of fat based on an individual’s height and weight. Based on simple physics, patients with a higher body mass index (BMI) put more physical stress on their knees. Depuy Orthopaedics, a manufacturer of knee-replacement prostheses, paid...
knee arthroscopy risks are too great
Arthroscopic knee surgery is an odd hybrid of old-school “cut it out” thinking paired with new technology. It caught on like wildfire in the 1980s because doctors and patients alike were attracted to the idea of eliminating the need for large incisions required for...
what causes neck pain?
If you have chronic neck pain, you’ve likely heard many different reasons about why your neck hurts—from tight muscles, to bulging discs, to neck bones that aren’t aligned. What’s causing the pain is only half the battle. The other half is figuring out why it hurts....
did that bad ankle sprain make your knee unstable?
If you have an ankle injury and later develop knee pain, are the two connected? Regrettably, many doctors are not trained to think about biomechanics. There are reasons why so many doctors are clueless about how the body’s musculoskeletal system works. They receive...