Regenerative Medicine Stops Pain at its Source
The only way that Timothy Ward could tie his shoe was to stand in front of a chair, place both hands around his thigh and use his arms to lift his leg to the seat. With his shoe propped in the seat of the chair, Ward, a Baltimore City resident, would bend down as much as possible, stretch out his arms and, with his shoe barely within reach, tie the laces.
Constant pain raises the focus threshold for basic functioning. We have all experienced the discomfort of pain. But imagine stubbing a toe, or getting a paper cut, and instead of the pain fading away quickly it remains as harsh and unyielding as when the injury first took place, with the throbbing, aching and pinching continuing on for weeks, months and even years. This experience is one that the nearly 50 million American adults living with chronic pain or severe pain know all too well.
"It is not uncommon for someone suffering from pain to become worn down over time," says Nicky Lacerda, M.D., who is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation.
"Because there are so many extra steps required for a person suffering from pain to adjust to his or her surroundings or complete a simple task, eventually that person becomes drained not only of energy, but also motivation," Dr. Lacerda explains.
Masking the Symptoms
Before coming to the center, Timothy Ward was prescribed opioids to relieve his pain. Opioids are medications that bind to receptors in the brain and reduce the intensity of the pain signals reaching the brain, which in turn diminishes the effects of a painful stimulus.
"Opioids aren't how I wanted to deal with my pain. I knew that opioids were helping me live with the pain, but they weren't actually fixing anything," says Ward.
The United States is in the midst of a prescription opioid overdose epidemic. While opioids are frequently prescribed to combat pain, patients can easily become addicted. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, more than 28,000 people died from opioid overdose in 2014, and at least half of those deaths involved a prescription opioid.
"I was on opioids for 14 years," says Ward, who said that he quit taking pain medications around the same time that he began coming to the LifeBridge Health Center for Pain Treatment and Regenerative Medicine.
On the Mend
The body has amazing mechanisms for self-repair. Injured joints, ligaments, muscles and tendons go through a natural healing process, which is characterized by inflammation, proliferation (rapid cell reproduction) and regeneration. When this process is interrupted, the result is chronic pain and dysfunction.
Dr. Lacerda, an interventional pain management specialist at the center, suggested a regenerative medicine treatment called prolotherapy. Prolotherapy uses an irritant, typically a sugar solution, to stimulate the healing of ligaments, tendons and joint capsules. The ensuing inflammation attracts platelets and restarts the healing process.
Regenerative treatments allow physicians to naturally treat and heal painful conditions rather than masking the symptoms," explains Dr. Lacerda. "They help us to provide nonsurgical, long-term solutions, rather than short-term "˜Band-Aids,' and can dramatically improve the quality of our patients' lives."
"I came into the pain center unable to walk more than 10 feet without stopping on a straight path. But within a couple weeks of my first prolotherapy session, I was able to walk uphill for four blocks," says Ward.
Other regenerative medicine procedures performed at the Center for Pain Treatment and Regenerative Medicine include adult stem cell therapy and platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections.
The body's first response to injury is to increase blood flow to the area. Platelets secrete growth factors and attract stem cells to the injured area. In PRP therapy, a sample of the patient's blood is processed to concentrate the platelets. These platelets are injected at the point of injury, promoting the healing process.
Adult stem cell therapy is a similar concept to PRP. A physician performs a minimally invasive procedure to remove cells from a patient's bone marrow. These cells are processed and injected into site of the damaged tissue, and the stem cells give a patient's natural healing abilities a boost and stimulate repair.
"The change in my pain level has been life affirming," says Ward as he begins to get choked up.
"When I think of Dr. Lacerda, I think of Babe Ruth and the way that he would just call his shot by pointing to the seats. She had the same kind of confidence in her ability to help me, and she did just that. Dr. Lacerda gave me a shot at a life that's more than opioids and bed rest," Ward concludes.