Biologics are increasing in popularity across many medical disciplines, including advanced orthopedics. They are a wonderful addition to care plans for patients suffering from ACL tears, osteoarthritis of the knee, and many other conditions and injuries. Learn more about what biologics do to the body and how your orthopedic surgeon in Austin, TX, uses them to help patients just like you.
What Are Biologics?
Biologics are human cells, growth factors, blood components, and other natural healing substances that are lab-processed and injected into areas of joint inflammation, degradation, or injury. Because these medications are human-derived and often come from the patient’s own blood, bone marrow, or other areas, they have maximum therapeutic effects without allergic or rejection reactions of any kind. Plus, because they are delivered by in-office injections, they are a wonderful alternative, or adjunct therapy, to surgery and extensive rehabilitation.
In general, biologics enhance the body’s ability to:
- Recover and heal itself
- Experience less pain and inflammation
- Regenerate healthy and active tissues, such as joint cartilage
What Are The Different Kinds of Biologics, And How Can They Help My Orthopedic Condition?
The use of biologics in orthopedic specialists across the country is an ever-widening treatment option. In general, today’s most-frequently employed biologic medications are stem cell therapy, viscosupplementation, and PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy. Here are the details you should know before consulting your orthopedic surgeon in Austin on your treatment options.
Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cell therapy in Austin, TX, targets sources of persistent and debilitating joint and soft tissue pain. Adult stem cells, harvested from donor tissue or the patient’s own bone marrow, successfully treat inflammatory conditions, such as Achilles tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, and shoulder, and bursitis. These cells can also speed healing and tissue regeneration for ligament and tendon tears.
PRP Therapy
Platelet-rich plasma therapy uses a refined and processed serum composed of the patient’s own blood platelets. Injected into a site of injury, pain, and inflammation, the growth factor proteins present in concentrated platelets improve healing, reduce pain, and reduce inflammation over a series of weeks.
The American Journal of Sports Medicine reports that osteoarthritis responds very well to PRP therapy. Patients experience significant pain relief for months at a time without undergoing complex orthopedic surgeries.
Viscosupplementation
Typically using three to five weekly injections on a predetermined schedule, viscosupplementation delivers hyaluronic acid, a natural body protein, to areas of persistent arthritis inflammation and pain. Viscosupplementation is a well-tolerated outpatient procedure, relieving pain by increasing the cushioning effects of synovial fluid in the knee joint.
All-Star Orthopedics of Austin
At All-Star Orthopedics of Austin, TX, Dr. Carolyn Hyde and her team provide state-of-the-art diagnostics, treatments, and rehabilitation for orthopedic and sports-related conditions of all kinds–both acute and chronic. If you wish to control pain, inflammation, and speed healing in an injured or deteriorating joint, biologics may be an excellent treatment option.
To find out more about cutting edge orthopedic services–including non-operative choices such as biologics–please call us for a one-on-one consultation with board-certified orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Carolyn Hyde. You may be able to recover more rapidly and quickly using your body’s own natural healing mechanisms.
Call (512) 346-4933 to reserve your appointment, or use our online request form.
