SIDNEY – Having seen how much regenerative medicine helped its own staff, Sidney Chiropractic has added the treatment to the services it offers.
Regenerative medicine is a non-surgical treatment that uses regenerative tissue and platelet-rich plasma injections, prompting the body’s own repair mechanisms to regenerate new cells and heal a wide range of medical issues.
“It’s amazing. This stuff is cool,” said Harold Schubert, who has a Doctor of Chiropractic degree and owns Sidney Chiropractic with his wife, Leone Schubert. “It’s a difference maker, and that’s exciting.”
The Sidney Chiropractic staff saw how much regenerative medicine could help patients when Leone Schubert injured her knee. She was told she would need a knee replacement but didn’t want to have a surgical procedure.
While considering their options, they discovered regenerative medicine. Leone Schubert traveled to Florida to have the procedure done and quickly saw the benefits.
“I maybe walked the dog to the end of the block, and I would be limping because it was so painful,” said Leone Schubert, who received regenerative medicine injections in December. “But now I can walk 2 to 3 miles.
“I’m probably 95% improved. That’s how great it is. I’m so pleased. I’m so glad I didn’t have that knee replacement.”
Barb Pleiman, a certified nurse practitioner who is leading Sidney Chiropractic’s regenerative medicine efforts, also used regenerative medicine to treat her back issues.
“I was walking like an 80-year-old man, bent over,” Pleiman said. “It was just very difficult to stand straight, walking was difficult, but that’s all getting better.”
Pleiman received treatments in January and April and has been very happy with the results, too.
“It’s hard to deny the results that you get from it,” she said.
The materials used in regenerative medicine come from a couple sources.
Regenerative tissue comes from Wharton’s Jelly, a gelatinous substance within umbilical cords, that has been donated after a healthy, scheduled C-section. Sidney Chiropractic receives regenerative tissue from a tissue bank in Tampa, Florida.
Platelet-rich plasma, meanwhile, is taken from a patient’s own blood. The blood is spun in a centrifuge to separate the red blood cells and platelets. Platelets, which are concentrated in the process, then are injected into the body to promote healing.
“It is the future of care as far as I can see,” Harold Schubert said. “It’s a difference maker.”
Sidney Chiropractic has treated approximately 20 patients with regenerative medicine since it started offering the procedure in January, including one patient from the Schuberts’ native Minnesota.
It has treated conditions including osteoarthritis, tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, bursitis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, neuropathy, ligament tears, cartilage damage, bone fractures, dislocations and joint damage.
“We have had success with all of them,” Pleiman said. “I like to think that they’re pleasantly surprised at how quickly and how well it did work.”
Pleiman, who received regenerative medicine training in Florida, Colorado and Tennessee, said she is a believer in the benefits of regenerative medicine because of the results she’s seen.
“Re-check of imaging shows new growth,” she said. “Patients’ functions are greatly improved. Pain is improved.”
With regenerative medicine, the goal is to avoid invasive surgical procedures and the need for pain medications. While many techniques simply treat symptoms, regenerative medicine offers the possibility that conditions actually could be fixed.
“We treat degeneration in every joint, and you could get it to a point, but you could never push it over the hill,” Harold Schubert said. “Now we have that possibility.
“We’re not here to manage symptoms. We’re here to correct the issues.”
Along with regenerative medicine, Pleiman also is leading Sidney Chiropractic’s efforts to help patients with nutrition and lifestyle changes. The new offerings are a way for the practice to offer more options for its patients to improve the quality of their lives.
“The nutrition, the regenerative medicine and the chiropractic care all together work simultaneously to give the best quality of life the patient can have,” Pleiman said.
While regenerative medicine is common in other parts of the world, it hasn’t been fully embraced in the United States, Harold Schubert said.
Insurance doesn’t cover the treatments, but Sidney Chiropractic works with companies that help patients finance their care.
Sidney Chiropractic is offering free consultations and is planning informational workshops about its regenerative medicine services.
For more information about Sidney Chiropractic and regenerative medicine, visit www.sidneychiro.com or call 937-492-4681.
