Regenerative Medicine: Injecting Pain Relief into the Future

For Alliance Spine & Pain Centers, “The Future of Pain Relief” is more than an attention-grabbing tagline. Each day, the practice puts those words into dynamic action, and one of the strongest examples can be seen in its innovative Regenerative Medicine service line.

​​Regenerative Medicine is a state-of-the-art specialty focusing on harnessing the body's own healing capacities to repair and regenerate damaged tissues. Advanced techniques and therapies are used to inject the body’s natural healing properties directly into a problem area to encourage healing and reduce pain, which can bypass invasive surgery.

Dr. Richard Gayles, a nationally recognized expert in the field, leads the Regenerative Medicine program at Alliance Spine & Pain Centers, primarily focusing on injuries and pain in the knees, shoulders, hips, and spine. Regenerative Medicine can treat a wide range of orthopedic conditions, including osteoarthritis, tendonitis, ligament injuries, and more.

After extensive studying and training in Regenerative Medicine the better part of a decade ago, including treating his own rotator cuff injury, Dr. Gayles began introducing it to his patients, witnessing remarkable results.

“This is nothing the body can't already do, but it is limited in what it can do,” Dr. Gayles explains. “For example, when a young child breaks an arm or a leg, it will heal within a few weeks with no long lasting pain. And the reason is because young children have many more stem cells circulating in their blood. The concentration is much higher than in adults, and the healing is much more robust. So we're essentially collecting these stem cells from elsewhere in the body, concentrating them, and putting them back in ready to go.”

According to Dr. Gayles, there are an array of regenerative tools in the body’s tool box. These various techniques can be used individually or together, depending on the specific patient diagnosis. Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is what he refers to as “the ground floor” of Regenerative Medicine. The provider takes the patient’s blood, concentrates its growth factors, and injects it back into the tissue that is injured or needs help.

Other options include collecting stem cells from bone marrow, which enhances the healing process even further. Stem cells can also be retrieved from fat. This can be even more effective at healing joints, ligaments, tendons, and spinal problems. And the list of Regenerative Medicine options goes on, from alpha-2-macroglobulin to exosomes therapy.

“The major paradigm shift that occurs with Regenerative Medicine is that you can actually encourage and promote tissue healing,” Dr. Gayles explains. “And that's a huge game changer, because steroids don't heal tissues, they don't regenerate tissues, but Regenerative Medicine can. While we’re not seeing tissues regenerate completely like they’re 20 years old again, we’re seeing impressive results where patients have a lot more function with a lot less pain for a lot longer without surgery.”

Upon consultation, Dr. Gayles and the Regenerative Medicine team at Alliance Spine & Pain Centers determine the best course of action to take for each specific patient, choosing the proper therapy or therapies to help meet the need at hand. Unfortunately, there is a window of opportunity. For instance, if knee degeneration is in the final stages, Regenerative Medicine won’t be effective. The sooner an issue is addressed, the more likely Regenerative Medicine will be worthwhile.

While results vary, many patients experience improvement within a few weeks to months after undergoing regenerative therapies. Although the healing process is gradual, the Alliance Spine & Pain Center team guides each patient along the road to recovery, encouraging lifestyle enhancements such as proper diet, sleep, and exercise in an effort to optimize health.

“It really is a phenomenal field,” says Dr. Gayles. “And we’re just at the tip of the iceberg. There’s much more to fully understand, but as we do, I think it's going to be the future of medicine. Future medicine is not going to be palliative, not masking things, but actually treating the source of injury and disease. And this is what Regenerative Medicine does.”

Interested in exploring how Regenerative Medicine can help you find relief and restore function? Schedule an appointment with Dr. Gayles and the team at Alliance Spine & Pain Centers today, or learn more about these cutting-edge treatments and how they could benefit you.