Columbia Pain Management, PC teamed up with Regenexx to offer Stem Cell Therapy and other regenerative medicine treatments as an alternative to surgery for pain relief, orthopedic injuriesand arthritis. As part of Regenexx’s physician provider network, residents of Oregon and Washington now have access to procedures that were only available at major university hospitals.
“Regenexx is one of the country’s leading medical service vendors for stem cell therapy for pain,” stated Dr. David Russo, physiatrist and lead physician on Columbia Pain Management’s stem cell program. “We’re bringing in a whole suite of regenerative medicine procedures to our patients who are interested in options other than surgery for the management of chronic pain conditions.
“I see a lot of patients in my practice who, I believe, have been offered false choices,” Dr. Russo explained.“They’ve been told things like; there’s nothing left to do except try surgery, or this is just a degenerative condition that is never going get better, and you’re going to just have to learn to deal with it. Oftentimes I think patients get very discouraged, demoralized and internalize that message.
“Sometimes it’s helpful to come in and get a fresh set of eyes, get a new evaluation and perspective from a group of health care providers that are not anti-surgery, but are committed to trying many different possible solutions inlieu of surgery,” suggested Dr. Russo. “Really hear what your options are from a health care perspective, a health care provider and doctor who’s coming at the problem from that non-surgical orientation.”
Columbia Pain Management has served thousands of patients burdened with acute or chronic pain in Oregon and Washington since it was founded in 2005.Columbia Pain Managementis a comprehensive, interventional pain management clinic in the Columbia River Gorge.They look at the whole patient when it comes to treating pain, including diet, lifestyle and exercise.
“We are committed to science, committed to evidence-based practices and so is Regenexx,” Dr. Russo replied when asked about the new partnership.“Regenexx has been at the forefront of developingclinical outcome registries. Tracking how patients do with this sort of treatment over time. We want to know what’s working andfurthering our medical knowledge. Regenexx has built a robust algorithm fortracking success and developing protocol for future applications. We wanted to partner with someone who takes the science seriously, who takes patient care seriously and is interested in optimizing alternatives, because that is what our philosophy is.”
Stem cell therapy is a one-day procedure. The patient has bone marrow drawn in the morning, usually a mini-biopsy from the back of the hip bone. The marrow in then processed, creating a concentrated solution of stem cells. In the afternoon the stem cells are injected into the damaged joint or tissues using fluoroscopy ormusculoskeletal ultrasound. “What’s new and novel about the way we’re using stem cells to treat acute and chronic pain is that we’re able to be very targeted with the therapy. ,” expounded Dr. Russo,“and localize specifically, very specifically, the damaged and injured tissues,and sort of stimulate the body’s own natural healing cycle.”
Who is a good candidate for this procedure?
Anyone who suffers with osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, ankle, shoulder or hands.
Patients with non-healing bone fractures.
Tendon injuries such as partial rotator cuff or other partial muscle-tendon tears.
Avascular necrosis of the hip, shoulder, knee, ankle.
Certain types of injuries to the meniscus, hip labrum, shoulder labrum, shoulder SLAP lesions.
Stem cell therapy for pain is such a new and innovative treatment that it is not yet covered by health insurance. However, most insurance covers an initial evaluation and second opinions from a specialist, making it possible for you to investigate all of your options before choosing surgery or just living with the pain.
If you’d like to learn more about Columbia Pain Management or Stem Cell Therapy you can visit their website at www.ColumbiaPain.org.
Columbia Pain Management P.C.
Hood River , Oregon United States 97031
541-716-6469 http://columbiapain.org/
2015-05-03
