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Hi, I’m Dr. Mark Sanna. I’m the CEO of Breakthrough Coaching. Welcome to our program. Today, we’re going to be sharing some really cutting-edge, interesting information about why all regenerative medicine therapies are not alike. And, I’ve been coaching multidisciplinary practices for about 30 years now.
This area is absolutely exploding. The technology, the new strategies that are being applied are transforming healthcare. It’s a very exciting time, and I’m thrilled for ChiroSecure for helping make this program possible, and look forward to having you join us at future programs, and maybe you’ve seen some of the ones in the past.
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If you haven’t, go back and watch them. I think you’ll really like them. So we’re gonna talk about Regen Med, and let’s go to the slides So we’re gonna go through a whole bunch of different factors here effectiveness, pricing, why there are diverse applications for the various modalities that you can apply in Regen Med.
This is something that I think is gonna really excite you. So there are some pretty big cost differences in therapies. Lots of reasons why that happens, and, the cost can range significantly from hundreds down to thousands of dollars. And so it’s really important to not only know which therapy is right, but which patient is right for which therapy.
The timing, when it should be done and when it shouldn’t be done is super important because there are no two situations that are the same. These therapies should be custom-tailored for each unique patient’s application. So let’s talk about some of the different key factors involved with Regen Med cost and effectiveness.
We often talk about stem cells in Regen Med, and it’s a hot topic. There are lots of different types of stem cells. We’ll go through them together. They’re typically mesenchymal cells. That means they’re undifferentiated cells that can actually turn into or differentiate into the type of cell that you would like to regenerate.
For example, a a chondrocyte that will produce cartilage inside of a joint. Some are more effective than others, and quality is everything. Quality matters. Are they viable? These are highly regulated live cells, live tissues, and it’s very important that you understand the FDA FTC regulations surrounding what can be said and not be said about stem cells.
And quantity is really important as well. The dosage is important for success, so how many stem cells are present, viable in the actual substance that you’re using? So what are the sources of stem cells? There’s bone marrow, and it’s a very common source. Adipose or fat tissue is also another source for stem cells.
And then finally, one of the most common sources for stem cells are donated umbilical cord tissue, and these are cells that are highly viable and a great source of mesenchymal cells. So as I mentioned before, concentration matters, right? So in real estate we say location.
And in regen med, we say concentration. So when we talk about stem cells or when we talk about PRP or platelet-rich plasma, this is when we draw the patient’s blood, spin it down, s- filter out the platelets, and inject those into soft tissues that need repair or into an arthritic joint.
There are a couple of different kinds of PRP, and when we talk about the number of platelets, the platelet concentration is super, super important. So we can spin down platelets in a centrifuge in a single time, one spin. That’s a lower concentration of platelets. And you might think gee, why would I want to do that?”
It’s more cost-effective, but it’s also perfectly fine for soft tissue injuries. So for slight tears, sprains, strains, absolutely fine to use a single stel- PRP, single-spin PRP. Double spin, however, is if you’re going to be putting platelets into a joint, in particular a chronically arthritic osteoarthritic joint, you wanna make sure that you’ve got the highest concentration of platelets possible, and that requires a double spin.
So why is concentration so important? S- platelets work through a signaling mechanism. They actually, through growth factors and other ingredients- signal to your own stem cells in your body to do the differentiation, right? So the platelets that go in are not differentiating. They’re stimulating your own natural stem cells.
So if you’re a little bit older, your stem cells are a little bit pooped out we don’t wanna take pooped-out platelets and put them in a pooped-out person ’cause we’re gonna get pooped-out results, right? So we wanna have really solid science behind what we’re doing, and that double spin is one, if you’ve got folks in the area who are also doing stem cells, there’s folks who are providing it, I’m sure, in your community, and you’re hearing patients come in and they say, “Gee, I had a second, third application of PRP in my knee and it really didn’t help at all,” or, “I didn’t feel anything.
Didn’t no no impact at all,” it’s highly likely that the provider used a single-spin platelet therapy inside an osteoarthritic joint. That’s pretty much a recipe for failure I want to talk about scaffolding. This is one of the ninja secrets when it comes to Regen Med, and a lot of providers are not aware of scaffolding.
So s- we call it scaffolding, short for bio scaffolding. It’s a supportive structure that actually provides support for the substance that we’re pro- injecting into the joint, be it PRP, be it stem. We’re gonna talk about something called A2M or alpha-2 macroglobulin in a little bit. It actually helps form the new tissue matrix.
It improves the longevity of the therapy. So with scaffolding, which is essentially drawing the first two, three cc’s of platelet poor plasma at that point in time and gently heating that in a small heater, about 10 minutes’ time, and it changes the consistency of the platelet plasma into that of almost like a toothpaste.
And that is mixed with your PRP, and it now holds that substance. Remember, it’s signaling. The longer it’s there in that joint to signal, the better, that the longer that it stays there is the improved efficacy. And it’s increases the amount of time from about four days when you inject platelets without scaffolding to about four months, where those signaling cells can remain in that joint space, and that significantly improves your outcome.
What are some questions to ask? I mentioned that there are platelet folks out there and stem cell folks that are out there. Number one, pa- and these are questions that patients should ask as well. You wanna know what form of guidance are they using. Are they actually using ultrasound guidance or sometimes in the area of the spine, they’re gonna be using fluor- fluoroscopy or fluoroscopic guidance You want to know about the experience.
Is this somebody who took a weekend seminar? Are they actually trained, experienced, certified in these types of pro- procedures? And who’s gonna be performing the regen treatment? Is it a PA? Is it a nurse practitioner? Is it an MD? Is it somebody who actually knows what they’re doing around a joint? So we mentioned the guidance method.
Why is that important? Number one, you wanna put the right stuff in the right place, and by using ultrasound guidance, you’re going to be– know when that needle is in the joint space. This is super important if you’re doing something like a meniscus in the knee or a labrum in the shoulder. Wanna make sure that we’re putting the platelets right into that area and that’s gonna be super important.
If you’re not even in the joint space, that’s gonna be a huge problem. So if you’re doing injection therapy by landmark, which is what kind of people do, prod and poke and push that is not gonna be as effective as using the precise placement with accurate targeting. Fluoroscopy we mentioned fluoroscopy, ultrasound and needle guidance, all of these help you pinpoint those injections.
You wanna stay away from blind injections. Pin the tail on the donkey. You could miss the mark. You’re wasting people’s good money. These are procedures that are typically paid for by the patient. They’re not typically insurance-reimbursed procedures. So just poking around in landmarks and hoping that you hit the target is not the way to go.
You could see little to no relief. You could waste the time and waste the patient’s money as well. So I mentioned who’s performing the procedure. Nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, physician specialists, typically a nurse practitioner or a PA, unless they have an advanced degree, have a collaborating or supervising relationship with a, a medical physician who is helping supervise those those procedures.
In any case, we wanna make sure that the person has been adequately tr- adequately trained, not only in the joint pro- joint injection procedures, the blood draw procedures, the centrifuge procedures, all of the different procedures that actually make this effective are very key. And this concludes part one of our presentation, Why All Regenerative Medicine Therapies Are Not Alike.
I hope you join us for part two. We’re gonna continue our conversation about the differences between Single Spin and PRP. We’re gonna talk a little bit about alpha-2 macroglobulin. We’re gonna give you some more insider tips to make sure that your regenerative procedures are the most effective. If you’d like to learn more, you can check us out at mybreakthrough.com.
You can reach me by picking up the phone and dialing 800-723-8423. That’s 1-800-7 and the word advice, A-D-V-I-C-E. Again, this is Dr. Mark Sanna. Hope you enjoyed this presentation, and a shout-out to our friends at ChiroSecure. Thanks so much for making this program possible
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