Some patients develop injuries or sports injuries and want to avoid surgery. Others develop these injuries or pain but simply aren’t candidates for surgery. Whatever group you fall into as a patient, non-operative orthopedic sports medicine is an option available to help you get relief from your pain, improve your body’s functioning, and have a better quality of life.
At the Center for Sports Medicine and Wellness, our physicians specialize in the treatment of pain and sports-related injuries through the use of non-operative orthopedic sports medicine. We treat conditions like, shoulder joint injuries, knee, hip, ankle pain and injuries, back and neck injuries, PTSD, and other issues that limit patient function. But what does choosing non-operative treatment really mean for you as a patient?
Most orthopedic injuries or pain, while complex, don’t actually require surgery in order to be treated. Choosing a non-operative treatment can help you improve your mobility and function with the help of procedures that don’t carry the risks of surgery or the long, painful recovery period. Keep reading to learn how our non-operative orthopedic sports medicine can benefit you as a patient.
What is Non-Operative Orthopedic Sports Medicine?
Your musculoskeletal system is made up of bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves. When these areas develop inflammation, “overuse” injuries, mild sprains, strains, etc., non-operative treatment can effectively relieve your pain and get you back to your normal functioning.
Non-operative orthopedic sports medicine treatments provided here at the Center for Sports Medicine and Wellness include:
- Bone Marrow Concentrate
- Alpha 2 Macroglobulin Injection Therapy (Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy)
- The Discseel® Procedure
- Spine Renu
- Autologous Stem Cell Injection Therapy (ASCI)
- Perineural Superficial Injections
- Stellate Ganglion Block Treatment
- Intradiscal Nucleolysis Treatment
These treatments include some of the most advanced non-operative treatments, available as a result of advancements in science and medicine. Orthobiologics like PRP injections, the Discseel Procedure, and ASCI are just a few non-operative treatments that have allowed patients to get relief without surgery.
Bone Marrow Concentrate
Bone marrow concentrate is a non-operative orthopedic sports medicine treatment performed by using a patient’s own blood to heal and treat injuries. Bone marrow concentrate is produced by collecting bone marrow aspirate using a needle that removes bone marrow from a large bone. The aspirate is then processed using a centrifuge.
This treatment is very beneficial for patients because the bone marrow contains blood and stem cells. These stem cells can be used to create new tissues such as bone, cartilage, fat, and blood vessels, making them very effective at treating injuries.
Bone marrow concentrate can effectively treat the following conditions:
- Bone fractures that have not grown back together
- Improving wound healing
- Repairing cartilage
- Treatment of bone death
- Improving tendon healing
- Treating osteoarthritis in joints
- Delaying the progression of diseases such as arthritis
- Tennis/Golfer’s Elbow
- Meniscus tears
- Low back pain from disc herniation
- Rotator cuff tendonitis
- Achilles tendonitis
Alpha 2 Macroglobulin Injection Therapy (PRP)
Also known as Platelet-Rich Plasma injections, his procedure has only become more and more popular in recent years. Alpha 2 Macroglobulin injections have the ability to repair damaged joints, ligaments, and tendons. This procedure is fairly simple, providing pain reduction and healing with almost no downtime for patients. This procedure can usually be administered in as little as half an hour.
Similar to bone marrow concentrate, Alpha 2 Macroglobulin injections use a small sample of a patient’s own blood. After the sample is collected, the red blood cells are removed through the use of a centrifuge, and the remaining regenerative platelets are then injected into the injury site.
Alpha 2 Macroglobulin injections can treat the following conditions:
- Osteoarthritis
- ACL Tears
- Knee Pain
- Hip Pain
- Back Pain
- Elbow tendonitis
- Patellar tendonitis
- Rotator cuff tears
- Achilles tendonitis
- Plantar fasciitis
- Acute muscle tears
The Discseel® Procedure
The Discseel Procedure is a minimally-invasive, non-surgical procedure that utilizes fibrin, a natural biologic formed from fibrinogen during the blood clotting process. Fibrin is used in your body’s natural healing process, impeding blood flow from cuts or tears and encouraging new tissue to grow. This process is applied to spinal discs damaged, torn, and leaking as a result of annular tears. Torn spinal discs can’t repair tears naturally, but thanks to the Discseel Procedure, patients can now get relief from pain caused by torn spinal discs.
This procedure is commonly used to treat the following conditions:
- Annular Tears
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Herniated Discs
- Sciatica
- Chronic lower back pain
Spine Renu
Developed 8 years ago by the founder of the Center for Sports Medicine and Wellness, Dr. Brian Shiple, Spine Renu is a procedure used to treat spine issues caused by damaged or degenerated spinal discs. It has been in its current, refined state for the past 4 years.
Dr. Shiple developed this non-operative orthopedic sports medicine procedure after working with many Workers’ Compensation patients who were due to have surgery. Because most spine surgery patients are unlikely to return to work, Dr. Shiple offered Spine Renu to some of these patients, with great success. 80% of Spine Renu patients reported between 50-70% improvement in their pain, and the majority of these patients were able to return to work.
This procedure is used to heal the following spine conditions and can be applied to both the lower back and neck:
- Degenerative Disc Disease
- Herniated Discs
- Sciatica
- Chronic Lower Back Pain
Autologous Stem Cell Injections (ASCI)
Stem cell injections are one of the most powerful non-operative orthopedic sports medicine treatments. Your body has a natural ability to heal itself using stem cells and they can be extracted from healthy areas of your body and injected into the injured tissue to easily promote healing without surgery.
In fact, stem cells are able to transform into just about any cell in the body, giving them the ability to effectively adapt to injured areas, encouraging recovery and healing. ASCI is able to effectively treat the following conditions:
- Advanced arthritis
- Tendons
- Ligaments
- Cartilage
- Spinal discs
- Chronic fractures
Other Non-operative Orthopedic Sports Medicine Treatments
Perineural Superficial Injections (PSI). These injections are used to treat inflamed and injured nerves. It’s an effective treatment for patients suffering from chronic nerve pain as a result of trauma, arthritis, sports, overuse, occupational, and surgical injuries. PSI can decrease nerve impingement and inflammation, which improves the mobility of muscles and the musculoskeletal system while reducing pain, spasms, and tightness.
This treatment consists of a substance that is injected around skin nerves to provide pain relief. The focus of PSI is to nourish and reset nerves in order to relieve or eliminate pain and restore mobility. PSI can be used to treat neuropathic conditions such as:
- Carpal tunnel
- Regularly spasming muscles
- Nerve pain
- Pinched nerve
- Nerve compression
- Herniated disc
- Ulnar neuropathy
- Whiplash
Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB). This is a PTSD treatment that blocks the cervical sympathetic chain. This connects your body to the parts of your brain that control your fight or flight response. It is believed that SGB allows the fight or flight responses to “reset”, providing long-term relief from anxiety symptoms associated with PTSD. Many US military treatment facilities have used SGB since 2010 as an effective PTSD treatment for thousands of service members who previously suffered from chronic anxiety symptoms.
Intradiscal Nucleolysis Treatment. This is a procedure in which chondrolytic substances or other substances are injected into the inner portion of the spinal disc (the nucleus pulposus) to reduce pressure and pain caused by herniated discs. These injections reduce pain and inflammation with a blend of nutrient ingredients that support tissue regeneration and activate the body’s natural healing mechanisms. This treatment is especially helpful for patients struggling with chronic pain. Keep in mind that this is not a lifelong treatment, but is simply intended to support your body while you get your health back on track.
Non-Operative Orthopedic Sports Medicine Experts in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
At the Center for Sports Medicine and Wellness, our doctors are authorities in non-operative orthopedic sports medicine and minimally invasive treatments. However, although our focus is on sports medicine and our doctors are sports medicine doctors, you don’t have to be an athlete to be treated here. We provide an exceptional experience for all of our patients, regardless of age or level of fitness. Whatever your condition, we’ll create the right treatment program to get you back to functioning and being active.
If you’d like to learn more about our services or contact us to schedule an appointment, please call our office in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, at (610) 459-420 or fill out our form. We welcome your inquiry and we look forward to helping you with your sports medicine needs!