As May is recognized as National Arthritis Awareness Month, Dr. Greenberg and his team wanted to highlight how regenerative medicine is able to help ease symptoms of arthritis. It’s important to keep in mind that arthritis is a collection of painful conditions that affect the joints, and there are many different types, just as there are many different treatment options based on each individual’s associated symptoms. Continue reading to learn more about regenerative medicine and arthritis.
Types of Arthritis
As arthritis affects more than 50 million adults and 300,000 children in the US, it is no question that there are a wide variety of symptoms, conditions, and even types of arthritis. Believe it or not, there are over 100 different types of diagnosable arthritis! Dr. Greenberg mostly commonly treats three types of arthritis, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis.
Osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, occurs when the cartilage in your joints breaks down, causing your bones to rub together and your joints to be inflamed. This causes a painful sensation which can further lead to a bone injury or a bone spur formation. The most common symptoms of osteoarthritis include: joint soreness, morning stiffness, lack of coordination and increasing disability. Osteoarthritis commonly affects individuals’ knees, especially as we age.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease in which your body attacks healthy joint tissue which leads to joint pain and overall damage throughout your body. Symptoms commonly include pain or aching in more than one joint, stiffness in more than one joint, tenderness and swelling in more than one joint, the same joint symptoms on both sides of the body, loss of joint function and deformities, fatigue, and many others.
Ankylosing Spondylitis is a type of arthritis primarily affecting the spine, but other joints are often involved as well. Ankylosing spondylitis is more common among men and can begin in early adulthood. Symptoms include pain in the back and joints, pain in ligaments and tendons, fever, fatigue, inflammation in the eyes, loss of appetite, bowel inflammation, and in rare cases heart problems.
Regenerative Medicine and Arthritis
As arthritis can be described as the breakdown of tissue and cartilage in the body, it is no wonder regenerative medicine can help as it replaces, repairs, or regenerates damaged human tissue naturally!
Researchers in regenerative medicine have demonstrated that symptoms of arthritis can be reduced through therapeutic treatments that help reduce synovitis activity, regenerate soft tissues and strengthen bone structures. Most often, this is done so with the help of stem cell therapy– while prolotherapy and platelet-rich plasma are also options. Evidence surrounding stem cell therapy specifically, shows that the treatments work by triggering damaged tissues in the body to repair themselves. With Stem Cell Therapy, you are not just treating your symptoms, you are repairing yourself cell by cell using nature’s most outstanding biological miracle, the stem cell.
Looking to treat your arthritis pain safely while improving the quality of your life? Schedule a consultation with Greenberg Regenerative Medicine’s team to determine a plan that is best suited for your needs.
