Regenerative Medicine
Breakthroughs in regenerative medicine offer a new path forward for men and women dealing with new or chronic pain, low mobility, and restricted movement. By stimulating the body’s natural healing process, regenerative medicine treatments can help minimize your reliance on medication and reduce your need for surgery.
Medication Isn’t the Only Solution for Chronic Neck, Back, Joint, and Muscle Pain.
Chronic pain currently affects around 50 million people in the United States alone. That number, while staggering, doesn’t even take into account the number of people who simply don’t seek treatment for chronic pain conditions. Chronic pain refers to any type of pain that lasts for longer than
six months.
While medications, such as over-the-counter (OTC) anti-inflammatories and prescription narcotics, can mask the pain, they don’t treat the underlying source. Chronic pain is often the result of unhealed injuries, nerve dysfunction, or scar tissue. By addressing the underlying cause, many patients experience lasting relief from pain. In addition, treating new or acute injuries early on can be an effective strategy to heal the damage and prevent chronic pain.
As a board-certified anesthesiologist and interventional pain management specialist with more than a decade of experience, Dr. Frank Ocasio focuses on uncovering the root cause of pain and developing the proper treatment for each patient. North Shore Headache & Spine in Huntington, New York, is a pain management practice founded by Dr. Ocasio to restore whole-body function and relieve pain for men and women with debilitating pain.
How Is Regenerative Medicine Different?
Regenerative medicine utilizes substances found in the human body to repair tissue and organ damage. Regenerative techniques work by activating your body’s natural healing mechanisms. The human body has the ability to heal itself in many different ways, from repairing a papercut to mending broken bones.
By injecting regenerative substances, such as growth factors and mesenchymal stem (or stromal) cells (MSCs), directly into your area of pain, Dr. Ocasio can help treat the underlying cause.
What Are the Benefits of Regenerative Medicine?
- Low-risk treatment, since your body is using its own cells and materials to heal tissue damage
- No general anesthesia required
- Complements other non-surgical treatments, like physical therapy
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- Slows the progression of degenerative conditions
- Lower need for surgery and other invasive procedures in the future
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- Accelerated healing after an injury
- Can provide longer-lasting relief than cortisone injections
- Minimally invasive treatments with little-to-no downtime
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What Are the Different Types of Regenerative Medicine?
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy
PRP therapy takes concentrated levels of your own plasma — the liquid portion of your blood — and injects it back into your damaged ligaments, tendons, and muscles. Plasma contains platelets that cause the blood to clot and promote healing.
How It Works
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Dr. Ocasio and his team draw your blood.
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Next, they run the blood through a centrifuge. Not all collection processes are the same, but North Shore Headache & Spine uses a technique that ensures the highest platelet concentration possible.
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Once they have your isolated PRP, Dr. Ocasio injects it directly into your injury site*.
*How Dr. Ocasio injects your PRP depends on the area being treated. For injections into damaged ligaments, tendons, muscles, or joints he may use ultrasound guidance. Injuries in the spine or some joints typically require a combination of fluoroscopic and ultrasound guidance for precision.
Stem Cell therapy
Also known as orthobiologic MSC therapy
At North Shore Headache and Spine, Dr. Ocasio can combine PRP therapy with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for maximum potency. Mesenchymal stem cells are found in the connective and lymphatic tissues and the blood vessels. They can develop into many different types of cells in the human body, including bone, tissue, and cartilage.
How It Works
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Dr. Ocasio extracts mesenchymal stromal cells from your bone marrow, typically from the iliac crest in the pelvis. While every collection process is different, North Shore Headache & Spine focuses on maximizing mesenchymal stem cell collection in addition to delivering concentrated levels of alpha two macroglobulin (A2M) and interleukin receptor antagonist (IRAP) to accelerate healing and reduce inflammation from the bone marrow concentrate.
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After extraction, Dr. Ocasio injects the stem cells and bone marrow concentrate into the area of injury using either ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance.
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If the process is combined with PRP therapy, Dr. Ocasio and his team will draw your blood and isolate the PRP in a centrifuge before injecting it into your tissues.
What Can Regenerative Medicine Treat?
Every patient is different, however, generally Dr. Ocasio recommends PRP therapy for mild to moderate musculoskeletal degeneration and stem cell therapy for moderate to severe conditions. Regenerative medicine treatments may be right for you if you experience new or chronic pain, low range of motion, and poor mobility and flexibility from:
Contact Our Pain Management Clinic For Relief Today
Regenerative medicine is an excellent complement to physical therapy and other rehabilitation programs that can minimize your reliance on medication. The results are often longer-lasting than cortisone shots and may help heal the root cause of your pain. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Ocasio, contact us today at our Huntington, New York office.
Why Choose North Shore Headache and Spine?
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INNOVATIVE TREATMENTS &
REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
With our in-office diagnostic imaging, dozens of innovative treatments, and full regenerative medicine service offerings, we are able to examine, diagnose, and treat patients experiencing chronic pain all under one roof.
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Long-Term
Integrative Philosophy
Instead of masking symptoms with a quick-fix approach, we focus on every lifestyle aspect to determine the root causes of pain and develop non-narcotic solutions.
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Deeply-Committed
Relationships
Our team values each and every one of our patients. We understand the toll that chronic pain takes on your physical and mental health, and we’re committed to listening to your concerns and creating the right treatent plan for you.
Pain Management Treatment Options
North Shore Headache and Spine offers the latest modalities for back and joint pain treatment, including, but not limited to:
PRP
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) utilizes your body’s natural healing abilities to repair hard and soft tissue damage. PRP concentrates parts of your blood that contain healing growth factors. By running your blood through a centrifuge, we can isolate these restorative substances and inject it back into your tissues to promote healing.
STEM CELL
Adding mesenchymal stem cells to your regenerative treatment can accelerate your recovery. Dr. Ocasio removes these stem cells directly from your own bone marrow and injects them back into your body along with bone marrow centrate which is rich in growth factors and cytokines that can help reduce inflammation and aid in regeneration.
Intracept Basivertebral Nerve Ablation
The Intracept Procedure is a minimally invasive treatment that targets the basivertebral nerve, which is often responsible for lower back pain.
Central and Peripheral Stimulation
Central and peripheral nerve stimulation involves using electric devices to disrupt pain signals from damaged nerves.
Nerve Blocks
A nerve block delivers a combination of medication and an anesthetic directly into the space surrounding a damaged nerve to quickly relieve pain.
JOINT FUSION
Joint fusion surgery is a minimally invasive procedure that involves removing damaged cartilage and fusing the connecting bones to prevent inflammation-causing friction.
Epidural, Steroid, and Trigger Point Injections
Steroid injections, including epidurals and trigger point injections, introduce anti-inflammatory medications into your area of pain to simultaneously alleviate chronic pain and treat inflammation.
Radiofrequency and Cryoanalgesia
Radiofrequency Ablation is a minimally invasive treatment in which heat is applied directly to a dysfunctional nerve, while cryoanalgesia uses extremely cold temperatures to produce reversible nerve degeneration, stopping pain signals at the source.