Recent advancements in medicine and science give us new, natural treatment alternatives for many different ailments and conditions. One of those, which we practice here in our White Oak, PA, clinic, is regenerative medicine. Often, people confuse this with stem cell therapy. In this post, we explain the difference between regenerative medicine and stem cell therapy. Then, we explain the benefits of this new approach for your health and wellness.
What is stem cell therapy?
There tends to be a lot of confusion around the term “stem cell therapy” these days. Many believe it is a blanket term that covers any type of stem cell treatment, but that is not the case. Stem cell therapy refers only to treatments using your own stem cells to facilitate healing in damaged cartilage, bone and tissue. Doctors typically take the cells either from adipose tissue or bone marrow. In some cases, they also may harvest the cells from a close family member.
Concerns with stem cell therapy
There are some concerns with these two “traditional” approaches. First, adipose tissue contains toxins that can cause complications further down the line. Secondly, bone marrow extraction is very painful. For this procedure, we need to drill inside your bones to collect the bone marrow, which also introduces the body to potential infection. Moreover, the adipose tissue and bone marrow cells age along with you. That means, the older you are, the less efficient and effective the healing process will be.
Regenerative medicine as a non-invasive, natural alternative
At our clinic, we do not perform traditional stem cell therapy. Instead, we offer regenerative medicine, which uses mesenchymal cells from the Wharton’s jelly of donated umbilical cords.
How it works
After a healthy cesarean birth, doctors collect donated tissue from Wharton’s jelly of the umbilical cord. During the pregnancy, they monitor the mother to ensure high-quality cells. These cells contain a range of healing elements like cytokines, exosomes, natural growth factors and mesenchymal cells that promote your body’s ability to heal quickly and efficiently. Furthermore, neither mother nor baby experience any discomfort when the cells are collected.
Why this approach is better
Regenerative cell therapy uses younger cells that can repair and regenerate tissue with greater efficiency than your own, older cells. Once injected, they zero in on damaged tissue and dock to it, releasing healing factors and secreting exosomes that teach other cells on how to heal the injury. They also donate their own mitochondria to other cells to help with cell respiration and boost cellular energy. Moreover, these cells haven’t yet developed an immune system of their own. Thus, after injection into your tissue, the chance of rejection is close to zero!
Some of the conditions we have successfully treated using regenerative cellular tissue include:
- Back/neck/shoulder pain
- Joint pain
- Sciatica
- Neuropathy
- Bone spurs
- Muscle tears
- Plantar fasciitis
- Meniscus tears
- Pinched nerves
- Osteoarthritis
- Tendinitis
- Bursitis
Regenerative medicine and stem cell therapy are NOT the same!
In summary, it is important to know the difference between regenerative medicine and stem cell therapy. SCT uses your own cells, either from bone marrow or adipose tissue. In contrast, regenerative medicine uses mesenchymal stem cells from the Wharton’s jelly of umbilical cords. The latter has many benefits: it uses younger cells, works more quickly, and has a much smaller chance of rejection.
Regenerative medicine helps alleviate pain by regenerating and repairing underlying tissues. It is a safe alternative to potentially addictive drugs and risky surgery to relieve your pain. It treats the real cause of your acute or chronic pain, so you can experience long-lasting relief and get back to enjoying life.
Read More: What Results Can I Expect From Regenerative Cell Therapy?