Regenerative medicine focuses on therapies to repair, replace and or regenerate damaged cells and tissues and restore normal function. Instead of just treating symptoms, it aims to heal the root causes of diseases or injuries using Prolotherapy, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), and Stem Cell Therapy. Regenerative medicine helps the body heal itself.
Regenerative Medicine involves harnessing the bodies own innate healing mechanisms to regenerate injured, degenerated, unhealthy tissue. After injury our bodies go through an orchestral production of inflammatory chemicals that direct cellular traffic to clean up and begin to replace or regenerate injured unhealthy tissue. It is this mechanism that regenerative medicine puts in motion to encourage the body to heal.
In medicine we have been conditioned to believe inflammation is a harmful painful process that needs to be controlled. Applying ice and using anti-inflammatories has become the mantra in dealing with injuries. But, science has long recognized that acute inflammation in the first 48-72 hours is intrinsic to the healing process. If suppressed, individuals may feel they have recovered more quickly but they are left with less tissue regeneration, setting them up for re-injury or a chronic condition. Chronic conditions lead to a chronic inflammatory mix of chemicals that lead to ongoing pain and ultimately degeneration of tissue. This can be seen as chronic tendinitis/tendinosis, muscle splinting, and ultimately degenerative arthritis or osteoarthritis.
Regenerative medicine turns back on the acute inflammatory cycle leading to cellular activation and migration; essentially tricking the body into believing it has been injured. This perceived injury gives the body a second chance to heal. During this time no ice or anti-inflammatories are allowed to encourage and support the healing process.
The most common types of regenerative medicine: Prolotherapy, Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), and Stem Cell Therapy. The initial acute phase of injury is due to the release from the blood stream into the area of injury. As platelets enter the injured tissue they degranulate or break apart releasing a constellation of growth factors activating local resident stem cells and attracting other cells into the area to begin the process of healing or regeneration of tissue.
During a PRP treatment a patient’s blood is taken and the platelets are concentrated and re-injected under Ultra Sound guided imagery to the areas of dysfunctional degenerated tissue. With Diagnostic Ultrasound, injured unhealthy tissue is documented and over time healing can be appreciated. Ultrasound has changed medicine by allowing physicians to accurately deliver medicine and document the changes in tissue, thereby validating regenerative procedures.
Prolotherapy, established in the 1950s, is where Regenerative medicine originated. Original studies showed the proliferation of tissue with the injection of dextrose into damaged tendons, ligaments and joints. In 2016, a study documented the regeneration of cartilage in human subjects with bone on bone osteoarthritis.
In some cases Micro Fragmented Adipose (MFAT), a stem cell procedure, is delivered in more mature patients, patients that require a scaffolding to bridge tissue tears, or have more serious degenerative conditions. Adipose is an ideal source of stem cells because these cells turn over every 7-10 years, making them behave younger than an individual’s biologic age. This therapy is mixed with PRP to activate cells and induce the proper cascade of growth factors necessary for the healing process.
One of the biggest hurdles in the adoption of Regenerative Medicine is the need for larger studies. The lack of large studies is driven by a lack of funding as these procedures are using our bodies own mechanism, which cannot be patented. Drug makers are working on growth factors that may have a similar outcome, but our body contains the perfect constellation that likely cannot be improved upon.
Regenerative Medicine is now practiced at Stanford, Mayo, John Hopkins and many other leading medical institutions in the U.S. and abroad.
Dr. Payson Flattery is the medical director and founder of the Center for Integrative Medicine. He has been practicing and teaching regenerative medicine for over 25 years. He has been a leader in the field, contributing to its evolution and development through his writing and instruction of physicians both nationally and internationally. He was a chiropractor before becoming a physician and this contributes to his hands-on approach, while incorporating state of the art diagnostics, including high definition Ultrasound.
This article appears in the Source February 5, 2026.
MAKE LOCAL JOURNALISM HAPPEN
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
