When my patient “BG” came to see me, her doctors told her that her days working in her garden were over. The pain in her knee was so bad that kneeling to tend to her flowers was out of the question.
They gave her a corticosteroid injection and told her to return for another in six weeks.
I wasn’t surprised. Cortisone steroid shots are one of the most common medical treatments for osteoarthritis.
But you should avoid these injections, even if your doctor insists they’re safe.
It turns out they’re even more dangerous than previously believed.
In a recent study published in the journal Radiology, researchers looked at the data of 459 patients who received one to three corticosteroid injections in the knee or hip.1
They found that the shots did far more harm than good by speeding up the progression of arthritis.
Nearly 8% of cortisone-treated patients developed severe complications within 15 months. These included stress fractures, cartilage loss, bone deterioration, and joint destruction.
It also increases a patient’s likelihood of needing a total knee or hip replacement.
One of the reasons cortisone shots are so risky is that the medication can crystallize inside the body. The crystals can cause pain and inflammation worse than the pain and inflammation caused by the condition being treated.
Other dangerous side effects of corticosteroid injections include:
- Elevated blood sugar2
- Bone death3
- Nerve damage4
- Cell deterioration leading to fat atrophy5
- Cartilage loss6
- Osteoporosis7
But taking an over-the-counter drug like NSAIDs isn’t the answer either. NSAIDs deplete the stomach’s mucus coating, impair blood flow to the stomach lining, and reduce the amounts of bicarbonate in the stomach.
Doctors have long known about the risk of NSAIDs in the stomach, but they only recently began understanding how common the risk is.
In one study conducted at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, 71% of patients showed damage to their small intestines after three months of taking NSAIDs.8
The complications of NSAIDs also extend to the heart.
Long-term clinical trials suggest that NSAIDs may increase your risk of harmful cardiovascular events, including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, high blood pressure, and atrial fibrillation, if you take them for extended periods.9,10
At my clinic, I treat my patients using an enhanced PRP therapy protocol you can only get at the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging Medicine.
PRP is the same treatment that has helped world-class athletes like Tiger Woods, Rafael Nadal, and Tom Brady get back in the game.
And it gets my patients back to doing the things they love, whether it’s their golf game or working in the garden.
Studies show it’s effective for arthritis… inflamed tendons… torn muscles… injured ligaments… knee osteoarthritis… damaged joint cartilage… and torn rotator cuffs.
One study looked at the results of rotator cuff damage treated with PRP compared to conventional steroid injections.
The patients who got PRP significantly improved their range of motion and pain level after three months. After one year, only three patients in the PRP group had to undergo surgery for the condition.
But 48 patients who received steroids required surgical intervention.
The power behind enhanced PRP
As you probably know, PRP uses platelets — colorless blood cells that help your blood clot — to rebuild a damaged tendon or cartilage.
PRP doesn’t just relieve pain. It jumpstarts the healing process.
Here’s what sets our therapy apart
But at the Sears Institute, we go one step further and provide enhanced PRP therapy.
We use a combination of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and platelet-poor plasma (PPP) that capture a higher concentration of plasma proteins, called alpha two macroglobulin (a2M), and growth factors.
Using a 2M drastically changes the biochemistry of a joint. It stops disease progression by binding to and removing cartilage-destroying inflammatory proteins. This provides long-term relief from pain.
But here’s what truly sets us apart from every other PRP provider in the country…
Each patient receives pre- and post-optimal platelet and stem cell activation using the:
- Intramuscular glutathione injection
- IV nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)
- Hyperbaric oxygen before and after PRP procedures
This triple punch is guaranteed to improve clinical outcomes.
As a regular reader, you know that HBOT therapy is one of the most effective regenerative therapies that exist today.
HBOT provides lifesaving treatment for numerous chronic conditions, ranging from diabetes, stroke, and spinal cord injuries to Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and heart disease. And so many more.
We are the only clinic that combines enhanced PRP therapy with hyperbaric oxygen to provide up to 800% more healing power.
When you use HBOT and PRP therapy together, you’re ramping up the number of activated stem cells in your bloodstream. These then go to work with “turbo-charged” healing power on the parts of your body that need repair.
In one study, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania gave a series of 20 HBOT treatments to 18 people.
Following just one two-hour treatment, stem cells increased by 50%. After 20 HBOT treatments, stem cells increased by 800%.11
Are you ready to put your pain behind you?
Enhanced PRP therapy is straightforward.
It’s a very minimally invasive, same-day procedure that takes only a few hours. Most patients report little to no discomfort.
Are you ready to talk about ending your pain and reclaiming your life using our enhanced PRP therapy? If you are, please call 561-784-7852 , so we can set up your appointment.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
References:
1. Kompel A, et al. “Intra-articular corticosteroid injections in the hip and knee: perhaps not as safe as we thought?” Radiology. 2019 Dec;293(3):656-663.
2. Egbuonu F, et al. “Effect of inhaled corticosteroids on glycemic status.” Open Respirator Med J. 2014;8(1):101-105.
3. Chang CY, et al. ”Hip steroid/anesthetic injections: Is there an increased incidence of hip osteoarthritis progression, femoral head osteonecrosis, and collapse?“ Radiological Society of North America Meeting Abstract. 2017.
4. World Health Organization. “Report of Informal Consultation on Treatment of Reactions and Prevention of Disabilities.” 2019.
5. Park S, et al. “Hypopigmentation and subcutaneous fat, muscle atrophy after local corticosteroid injection.” Korean J Anesthesiol. 2013 Dec; 65(6 Suppl): S59–S61.
6. McAlindon TE, et al. “Effect of Intra-articular triamcinolone vs. saline on knee cartilage volume and pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized clinical trial.” JAMA. 2017;317(19):1967–1975.
7. Briot K and Roux C. “Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.” RMD Open. 2015; 1(1): e000014.
8. American Gastroenterological Association. “Study shows long-term use Of NSAIDs causes severe intestinal damage.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 January 2005.
9. Curfman G. “FDA strengthens warning that NSAIDs increase heart attack and stroke risk.” 2019. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fda-strengthens-warning-that-nsaids-increase-heart-attack-and-stroke-risk-201507138138. Accessed on September 29, 2022.
10. Krijthe B, et al. “Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the risk of atrial fibrillation: a population-based follow-up study.” BMJ Open. 2014; 4(4): e004059.
11. Thom SR, et al. “Stem cell mobilization by hyperbaric oxygen.” Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2006;290(4):H1378-H1386.