Orthobiologics: A Game-Changing Treatment Approach to Arthritis Pain

About 1 in 4 American adults (more than 54 million people) report a diagnosis of arthritis, with that number expected to jump to more than 78 million by 2040.

Not only does this disease cause pain and difficulty in the day-to-day life of those who have it, but the economic impact of arthritis is huge as well: more than $300 billion can be attributed to arthritis each year in terms of medical expenses and lost earnings from people with the disease.

While there is no cure for arthritis, we’re now able to fight back against the symptoms and progression of this disease with orthobiologics, a novel treatment approach. Dr. Austin Yeargan III at Carolina Joint and Arthritis in Wilmington, North Carolina, is one of the pioneers of this approach. Under great scrutiny, Doctor Yeargan bravely introduced the field of orthopedic surgery to the concepts of this approach in 2006 with colleague Dan Eglinton MD, another pioneering orthopedic surgeon.  At the time, the two were the only providers of orthopedic immunobiologics.  Now, well over 2000 clinics in the country offer treatments based on their initial concepts and descriptions. Doctor Yeargan’s treatment algorithms went through many iterations to arrive at the current treatment strategy, the subchondral Nanoplasty.  Here’s how it works:

What is arthritis?

Arthritis is a broad term that refers to more than 100 joint conditions. It causes pain and inflammation in your joints, making it difficult to move. The most common type is osteoarthritis, or “wear and tear” arthritis, which results from repeated stress on the cartilage in your joints, causing it to break down. Arthritis doesn’t begin until the bone beneath the cartilage (subchondral bone) stiffens and loses its modulus of elasticity. This is the rate limiting step to arthritis in any model and results in increased pressure in the bone, which can lead to pain.  Decompressing this stiff bone and introducing immunobiologic concentrates allows the bone to remodel to a more elastic state and relieves symptoms. In addition, the joint fluid is biologically activated to an anabolic state with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory molecules harvested and concentrated from your own tissue cells and proteins at the time of your procedure.  

There is no cure for arthritis, but treatments such as medication, physical therapy, and injections can help improve the condition. Orthopedic immunobiologics and procedures like the Nanoplasty can slow down the progression of the disease and remarkably relieve symptoms without surgery. If you live with arthritis, you know what a difference a new treatment method could make.

What are orthopedic immunobiologics?

When you injure your body — even something as small as a scratch — your body immediately calls upon new cells to help repair the damage in the injured location. A protein called a growth factor stimulates the production of whichever type of cell is necessary to heal the tissue.

Orthobiologics supercharges this natural healing power of the body to treat issues that don’t heal well on their own. The field is also sometimes called regenerative medicine; many consider it a more natural way to treat an injury or chronic pain.

Some of the most common conditions treated with orthobiologics include arthritis and joint pain, partial thickness rotator cuff tears,a damaged Achilles heel, plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow and other ligament injuries

What forms of orthobiologic treatment work for arthritis?

Two main orthobiologic therapies can be used to treat arthritis. In PRP (platelet-rich plasma), your own blood is drawn from your arm and put in a centrifuge to separate the platelets, which are then injected directly into the injury site after activation to release the contents of the dense granules in the platelets-the ‘growth factors’. The platelets are full of growth factors, that can stimulate the necessary tissue repair.  Plasma proteins are nanofiltered and concentrated for injection at the same time, playing an important anti-inflammatory role in the joint and tissues. It’s important for patients to know how their PRP is being processed in order to get the best result. PRP treatments vary greatly from clinic to clinic so it’s important to find a real expert for these treatments. 

Autologous Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate (ABMAC) or the Nanoplasty procedure exploits similar biologic concepts.   Nanoplasty procedures use concentrated nucleated bone marrow cells and include the PRP component of therapy.  Concentrating nucleated bone marrow cells for transplant to the subchondral bone takes advantage of biologic cellular signaling, which is how cells operate.  That’s why most authorities on orthopedic immunobiologics prefer to call these ‘cell signaling procedures’ rather than ‘stem cell treatments’.  They work through cell signaling mechanisms. Harvested and concentrated cells are loaded onto a thrombin scaffold with a growth factor concentrate (GFC) produced at the time of the Nanoplasty before injection..   The Nanoplasty procedure uses only cells and proteins harvested from your own body and are extremely safe.  We have performed the procedure hundreds and hundreds of time with excellent results that have been duplicated by other clinics using our techniques.  

While our procedures are state-of-the-art, not everyone is a candidate.  If we don’t think you’re an ideal candidate, we’re going to tell you that.  We evaluate each patient individually through careful physical exam and imaging and then present you with all of your options.  If you have joint pain and arthritis, you deserve an opinion from us.  

If you’re ready to consider a ground-breaking, natural approach to treating your arthritis, call our office at 910-659-9597 or book an appointment with our online scheduler today. You won’t be disappointed.