(Video) Is Regenerative Medicine Snake Oil?

You may not be familiar with regenerative medicine, so it might sound like another snake oil remedy. Learn why regenerative medicine is legitimate science with healing power.

“Come one, come all! If your body aches, we have a cure-all!” While this is a preposterous claim, wouldn’t that be terrific—to find a cure for any and every ailment or illness known to man? While no such thing exists today, this type of advertising was a tactic used by salesmen in the 1800s to get rich.

Patent medicines, like snake oil, for example, have been around since the 17th century. Patent medicines are over-the-counter products designed to cure various illnesses. The claims made by the sellers of these medicines were quite outlandish and the cures were either totally fabricated or not evidence-based.

Regenerative Medicine is Legitimate Science

Regenerative medicine can sound like another snake oil remedy at times, and there are a lot of bad actors in this arena who spend more on marketing and hype than training and science. Some people are still hesitant to give regenerative medicine a try because they don’t fully understand it, while others are taking advantage of the benefits it can provide. Some research suggests we will be seeing even more regenerative medicine market growth in the next ten years due to the increased adoption of regenerative medicine and technological advancements.

Even though researchers have been studying regenerative medicine for several decades, it is still relatively new in some ways. Regenerative therapies have been used throughout the history of medicine, they just were not labeled as such. For example, physical therapy and exercise are two of the most fundamental forms of regenerative therapies. Both of these therapies help people every day but they are not thought of as regenerative medicine.

How Does Regenerative Medicine Work?

Your body will always have some capacity to heal. If you’re living and breathing, then you have the capacity for regeneration. A simple illustration of this is things like fingernails and hair; they are always growing out, which is evidence of regeneration in the body. By understanding these cellular processes, we can leverage repair mechanisms and supercharge the body to heal itself.

Pain is an important signal for our bodies because it tells us something is wrong. When treating orthopedic or neurological pain issues, we first need to understand what is blocking or preventing the body from healing or repairing the damaged area. By tracing the pain to its origin and teasing apart the broken gears causing pain, we can design regenerative strategies to rebuild what’s not working.

In some cases, it can be as simple as providing basic nutrition that your body is lacking to feed the cells and help tissues repair themselves. It can also require doing the right exercises in the right way, and physical therapy. Or, it may require using regenerative interventional techniques and injections. In these instances, we are either clearing out cellular debris, stimulating migration of cells into the affected area, or using stem cells isolated from your own body and putting them back into the area of damage to promote healing.

How to Get Regenerative Medicine Treatment?

Since regenerative medicine isn’t sake oil, it isn’t something you can get over the counter. The best way to gain healing and other benefits from regenerative medicine is by seeing a medical doctor who is a regenerative specialist. Wellward Regenerative Medicine and our team of specialists can offer proper direction and guidance to help you improve or heal things that haven’t been able to heal on their own.

Please reach out to us to ask any questions or to set up an appointment. We look forward to speaking with you and to helping you on your journey to healing and better health.