Sports injury? Orthobiologics could be the answer

This paid piece is sponsored by Avera Health.

Do you have achy joints or lingering pain from a sports injury? If you aren’t ready for surgery, you may want to consider orthobiologics.

Orthobiologics, also known as regenerative medicine, use your cells to boost natural healing. This innovative new treatment may be an option after noninvasive treatments such as anti-inflammatory medication, physical therapy or corticosteroid injections don’t work. It can improve blood flow and promote soft cartilage growth at the site of pain or injury.

“It can help anyone from a teenager with jumper’s knee to a person who’s 90 with arthritis,” said orthopedics specialist Dr. Jonathan Buchanan, Avera Orthopedics Sioux Falls. “Most of my patients have tried conservative measures. They want more options outside of surgery or medication and steroids.”

How regenerative medicine works

Injections of both tissues and cells are administered directly into injured tendons, ligaments or joints, where your body immediately can put the material to use to reduce inflammation, heal injury or reduce pain.

This unique treatment can happen during a clinic visit. After exams and images, you’ll be asked to exercise on a treadmill or elliptical machine before your blood is drawn.

“Activity increases the level of blood platelets,” Buchanan explained. Your blood is processed in a centrifuge that can separate and concentrate parts of the blood.

The care team uses ultrasound imaging to find the location for reinjection. The most common methods include:

• Cell injections: Treats tendon pain using bone marrow aspirate cells found in the bone marrow located in your pelvis or by using adipose-derived cells, which are fat cells found under the skin in your abdominal area.
• Tissue injections: They can aid healing and reduce inflammation, support tissue regrowth and prevent the development of scar tissue.
• Placental tissue matrix injections: In these cases, donated human placental tissue is injected to help reduce pain, inflammation or injury.

In about two weeks, patients return and repeat the process. Patients with tendon issues receive about three shots, while those who have joint pain get two.

Who it can help

Orthobiologic medicine can help any biomuscular condition, from spine injuries to pain in the joints or lower back. Patients who benefit may include:

• Aging adults with recurring or long-lasting pain in joints who are not good candidates for joint surgery. They might face arthritis, repetitive-use problems or joint pain.
• People of all ages with specific biomuscular issues because of sports, trauma or certain work-related repetitive-use conditions.
• Younger people with sports-related injuries, including ligament, tendon and joint tweaks that hurt a lot but don’t require surgery.

Read more

How to care for repetitive-use injuries

What to do about runner’s knee

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