The rotator cuff is a grouping of muscles and tendons in the shoulder. They provide support and help to stabilize the shoulder joint, as well as allow for a full range of motion in the ball-and-socket joint. Tears in the rotator cuff can occur in many ways. These can include injury by overstressing the...
Shoulder pain can have many different sources including instability, a rotator cuff tear, a labral tear, arthritis, inflammation, bone edema, tendinosis, a pinched nerve, etc. More and more studies continue to show that shoulder MRI results often cannot predict why the patient is experiencing pain. This is the case for various body areas including...
More often than not, patients ask us how they can improve the quality or quantity of their stem cells before a procedure. Over a decade of orthopedic stem cell experience and research has taught us that there are in fact certain things that you may be able to do to improve your stem cell...
When I first met Renee LaFountain in Junior College, she’d already been a ballerina and an acrobat for most of her life. Forty years later she was hurting when she tried to do basic things such as: putting her socks and shoes on, painting her toenails, walking, and teaching tap-dance classes, which she loved....
Background: As practicing physicians, scientists, and regulatory experts we have increasingly observed aggressive advertising and sales tactics being used by alternative health clinics (chiropractors, naturopaths, and acupuncturists) as well as physicians and mid-level providers to market “stem cell” treatments derived from birth tissues. One example is full-page print ads in major newspapers used to...
Oftentimes, patients ask us what they can do to improve their joint cartilage and prevent arthritis. Cartilage is a connective tissue that acts as a cushion between the bones to protect our joints by absorbing shock. The visual evidence of arthritis seen on imaging studies can be due to the decrease in quantity and...
Over the past several years, stem cell and PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injection therapies have become highly sought after treatment options, as a non-surgical, and non-drug alternative for many common orthopedic problems. These common issues include shoulder pain from rotator cuff tears, joint pain from arthritis or a meniscus tear, instability from knee-related ACL...
In our practice, we view the body as one interconnected machine with each part working together in harmony. The lumbar spine is a crucial element of this machine. The hip, knee, ankle, and foot are all controlled by spinal nerves within the low back. A problem in the lumbar spine could create problems really...
The idea of utilizing routinely discarded birth tissues to harvest viable stem cells for orthopedic medicine is an exciting topic. Unfortunately, there are currently no FDA-approved uses for allogeneic (coming from someone else) stem cell products other than bone marrow transplantations. Even more disturbing is the fact that the vials of amniotic “stem cells”...
As you may have seen in the news, certain stem cell therapy providers and suppliers are under extra scrutiny from the FDA this week—and rightfully so. Clinics allegedly injected patients with bacterially infected amniotic stem cell material and made patients very sick. Unfortunate as that is, the media skimmed over the even bigger story....