Regenerative medicine
Treat joint pain with your body's own biology
Regenerative therapies use concentrated platelets, protective plasma proteins, and donated birth-tissue allografts to support your body's natural healing response — a non-surgical option for arthritis and injured joints, tendons, and ligaments.
Every treatment plan starts with an exam and imaging review, so you know whether a biologic therapy is a good fit before anything is scheduled.
How a visit works
Treatment happens in a single office visit
Every therapy we offer is an outpatient procedure — no hospital stay, no general anesthesia. Every patient goes home the same day.
Draw
For PRP and A2M, we draw a small sample of your blood — about as much as a routine lab test. Allograft therapies skip this step; the tissue arrives prepared from a certified bank.
Prepare
Your sample is spun in a centrifuge and filtered to concentrate the healing components — platelets for PRP, Alpha-2-Macroglobulin proteins for A2M — while you wait.
Inject
Using ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance, your physician places the therapy precisely where it's needed: inside the joint, or along the injured tendon or ligament.
Three therapies
Matched to your joint, your imaging, and your goals
Each therapy works differently. During your consultation we'll review your imaging and history to recommend the option — or combination — best suited to your condition.
From your own blood
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)
Platelets are your body's first responders. When tissue is injured, they arrive first and release growth factors that call in repair cells, build new blood supply, and organize healing. PRP concentrates those platelets from a small sample of your own blood — often five to ten times the level normally circulating — and delivers them directly into the injured area.
PRP is our most established biologic therapy, commonly used for mild-to-moderate knee arthritis, tendon injuries like tennis elbow, and ligament sprains that have stalled in their healing.
| Source | Your own blood, drawn the same day |
|---|---|
| How it helps | Concentrated platelets release growth factors that support tissue repair |
| Often used for | Knee arthritis, tendinopathy, ligament injuries, hip and shoulder pain |
| Delivery | Image-guided joint or soft-tissue injection |
| Visit time | About 60 minutes, including preparation |
Cartilage protection
Alpha-2-Macroglobulin (A2M)
In an arthritic joint, destructive enzymes called proteases slowly break down cartilage — one reason arthritis tends to progress. Alpha-2-Macroglobulin is a large protein already present in your blood that works like a molecular trap: it binds those cartilage-degrading enzymes so your body can clear them from the joint.
Because A2M is normally too large to enter the joint space in meaningful amounts, we concentrate it from your own plasma using a specialized filtration process, then inject it where it can intercept those enzymes directly. A2M is often chosen for painful, inflamed arthritic joints, and it pairs well with PRP in a combined treatment plan.
| Source | Your own plasma, concentrated by filtration |
|---|---|
| How it helps | Binds and neutralizes the enzymes that break down cartilage |
| Often used for | Painful osteoarthritis of the knee, hip, shoulder, and spine facet joints |
| Delivery | Image-guided joint injection |
| Visit time | About 60–90 minutes, including preparation |
Donated birth tissue
Umbilical Allograft
Umbilical allograft therapy uses tissue from the umbilical cords of healthy, screened donors following planned cesarean births — tissue that would otherwise be discarded. This young tissue is naturally rich in mesenchymal stem cells, growth factors, cytokines, and hyaluronic acid, the same molecule that lubricates and cushions healthy joints.
Because no blood draw or processing time is needed, allograft treatment is often a fit for patients whose own biology is less robust — older patients, or those with chronic conditions that can reduce the quality of PRP. All allograft products we use come from accredited tissue banks and are processed under FDA regulations for human cells and tissue products, with full donor screening and testing.
Select umbilical allograft and exosome products are also available as intravenous therapy for patients seeking systemic, whole-body support.
| Source | Screened, donated umbilical cord tissue from accredited banks |
|---|---|
| How it helps | Delivers cells, growth factors, cytokines, and hyaluronic acid to support repair |
| Often used for | Moderate arthritis, patients who aren't ideal PRP candidates |
| Delivery | Image-guided joint injection; select products available as IV therapy |
| Visit time | About 30–45 minutes; no blood draw required |
How therapies are delivered
Precise where it counts, systemic when it helps
Most regenerative treatment is local: the therapy is placed exactly where the damage is. For some patients, an intravenous option extends that support to the whole body.
Image-guided joint injections
Every injection is performed under ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance, so the therapy reaches the exact joint space or tissue that needs it. Guidance matters — blind injections can miss the joint capsule entirely.
- Knees, hips, shoulders, ankles, wrists, and hands
- Tendons and ligaments, including partial tears
- Available with PRP, A2M, and umbilical allograft
- Performed in-office; every patient goes home the same day
IV biologic therapy
Certain umbilical allograft and exosome products can be administered intravenously for patients seeking systemic support rather than treatment of a single joint.
- Allograft and exosome products only
- Administered in-office with monitoring
- Offered after physician evaluation and candidacy review
- You go home the same day
Is this right for you?
Conditions we commonly treat
Regenerative therapies aren't a replacement for every surgery, but for many patients they offer meaningful relief and a chance to delay or avoid an operation. They're most often considered for:
- Knee osteoarthritis
- Hip and shoulder arthritis
- Rotator cuff injuries
- Tennis and golfer's elbow
- Meniscus and labral tears
- Patellar and Achilles tendinopathy
- Plantar fasciitis
- Ligament sprains and partial tears
- Facet joint and SI joint pain
- Chronic soft-tissue injuries
The regenerative therapies described on this page — including platelet-rich plasma, Alpha-2-Macroglobulin, and umbilical cord-derived allograft products — are not approved by the FDA to treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. Allograft products used in this practice are regulated as human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps) and sourced from accredited tissue banks. Individual results vary, and no outcome can be guaranteed. This page is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for a medical evaluation.
Are you a candidate for Joint Rejuvenation? Click the link below to request a free consultation.
“I’ve had two failed surgeries that resulted in long-term infections, expensive medical bills, and repeated hospitalizations. When arthritis and degeneration in my hip began to limit my mobility and quality of life, I knew I needed to do something, but surgery was not an option I was willing to pursue again. Buckeye Physical Medicine and Rehab helped me choose the non-surgical route that was right for me. Regenerative Medicine has significantly reduced my pain, my mobility has improved, and I’m back to doing the things I want to do -WITHOUT SURGERY! “
-Eric, Westerville OH