Nov 19, 2018
“THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT MY 80-YEAR-OLD TEAM ‘CHICAGO GEEZERS’ WON THE WINTER NATIONALS FOR OUR AGE GROUP IN FT MYERS 11/6 – 11/8. I RAN FOR MYSELF AND HIT .710. THE BAD NEWS IS MY LEFT KNEE IS A BIT MORE ACHY NOW, EVEN WHEN I AM SLEEPING OR NOT PLAYING SOFTBALL. IT IS NOT REALLY PAINFUL BUT IT DOES ACHE MORE THAN IT USED TO. HOPEFULLY, AFTER A FEW MORE MONTHS WE WILL NOTICE A REAL IMPROVEMENT” J.H.
While growing up in Albany Park, 16-inch softball was a way of life starting at the Haugan Grammar School playground in early February and continuing until the football season in the late fall while basketball went on all year round. Weather permitting, we relocated to Jensen Park and later during high school years to Eugene Field Park, River Park and eventually the Hibbard School Yard. Softball teams with such names as the Torpedoes, Majestics, Olympians, Phaetons, Regular Fellows, Little Gents, Jovens, and Aristocrats, to name a few, competed for the highly coveted Ned Singer softball championship. Teams were comprised of teenagers representing Amundsen, Austin, Roosevelt Sullivan, Senn, Von Steuben High Schools and more. The soft ball leagues diminished in numbers after high school but several individuals continued playing wherever and whenever possible. I for one played until age 40, ending my career with a triple play and fractured finger at Union Park in the Hospital league. A new 16-inch clincher is hard as rock. There are few remaining players of that generation; I am privileged to serve as a treating physician to two. Jimmy, someone I met when he beat out a ground ball over 00 years ago, (I was a first baseman) practices law and continues to play. Though he had overcome many softball related injuries during his playing days, he was ready to quit three or four years ago out of embarrassment at the pinch runner until I intervened with a Cellular Orthopedic intervention and he regained the ability to beat out a ground ball. Jerry, middle row in the photo, second from the left, continues to play. Two years ago, also very concerned about his ability to run around the bases, he presented to my office seeking an alternative to a Total Knee Replacement for his arthritic knees. One picture says it all; he is already making plans for next year. In Jerry’s case, it took several biologic interventions; but he is a champion.
To schedule an appointment and learn about the biologic options for your joints call (312) 475-1893. You may visit my web site at www.Sheinkopmd.com.
Tags: arthritic knee, biologic intervention, cellular orthopedic, injection, joint pain, joint replacement, Orthopedic Surgeon, PRP, regenerative medicine, stem cell, Total Knee Replacement
Aug 16, 2018
From the front page of the September, 2018 issue of GOLF “This Tiger is for real. He’s faster, sharper-and an up-and-down machine.” Then, from the September/October issue of Tennis, “Juan Martin del Potro He’s back…. and ready to once again conquer”. His once promising career was reaching the end owing to wrist injuries. Quoting Del Potro in the article “one doctor would say something to me; another would say something different. It was difficult to believe one or the other”; however, he demanded excellence and eventually found it
I could go on citing and quoting from all sports and recreational resources but you get the idea. These are recovery and come back examples of what motivated individuals may accomplish. Now, if you tune in to upcoming US Open later this month, you will be able to follow Rafael Nadal, another super athlete who was able to return to compete at the top of his game owing to cellular orthopedics for several potentially career ending injuries over recent years. I could go on with the examples in each and every recreational pursuit or from those who wished to regain a pain free and very active life even if not at the aforementioned level of demand. Suffice it to say, the common denominator for those with skeletomuscular restrictions is a combination of physical training, mental motivation and timely medical care.
You can put some of this Tiger in your tank and reignite your enjoyment of activities at any level if arthritic or traumatic injury of your bone and joints is holding you back. The new world, (actually it is not so new anymore) of Cellular Orthopedics may allow for a return to a virtually unlimited lifestyle with a needle instead of a knife. I choose to define myself as a Cellular Orthopedist so a patient might not be trapped in the web of so called regenerative medicine specialists. An orthopedic surgeon has dedicated many years to understand the musculoskeletal system whereas a regenerative medicine clinic frequently is populated by those who attended a two-day training seminar. While my own recreational pursuits and fitness profile is far removed from those of the famous professionals noted earlier in this blog, following cellular orthopedic interventions into my own knees in December of 2017, and for my hips in January, 2018, I returned to skiing last winter, cycling and fly fishing this summer, and I am able to enjoy a full fitness commitment in doing my part to maintain the highest possible level of performance.
You may access my website at WWW.SheinkopMD.com or call (312) 475-1893 to schedule a consultation.
Tags: BMC, Bone Marrow Concentrate, cellular orthopedis, golfers elbow, injection, Platelet Rich Plasma, PRP, regenerative medicine, sports injury, stemcell, tendon repair, tendon tear, tennis elbow
Apr 16, 2018
My team dedicates an inordinate amount of time answering questions and attempting to clarify the misunderstanding of patients when it comes to Platelet Rich Plasma; actually, the entire subspecialty of “Stem Cell Therapy” but let’s start with PRP. As an orthopedic surgeon who introduced Cellular Orthopedics to the Midwest five years ago, I am in a unique position to help define the problem. Does PRP have a role in treating a painful or injured part of the musculoskeletal system? In an attempt to help clarify misconceptions and better define the term Platelet Rich Plasma, I sat down and wrote this Blog.
Platelets circulating in the blood play a fundamental role in blood clotting and are a natural source of growth factors. Platelet rich plasma (PRP), also termed autologous platelet gel, plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF), platelet concentrate (PC), is essentially an increased concentration of (autologous) your platelets suspended in a small amount of plasma after centrifugation. Although it is not exactly clear how PRP works, laboratory studies have shown that the increased concentration of growth factors in PRP can potentially speed up the healing process.
The amount of PRP necessary to achieve the intended biologic effects still remains unclear.; but we know PRP contains growth factors in high concentrations. Precise predictions of growth factor levels based on the platelet counts of whole blood or PRP are limited. In our office, we use a hemocytometer to count platelets and the different white blood cells contained in the preparation. Knowing there are different sources for growth factors (platelets, leukocytes, plasma), we assume the higher number of platelets and leukocytes counted in the hemocytometer, the higher the concentration of growth factors in the preparation. Treatments using these autologous platelet growth factors are an important reason to improve methods for isolating platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and that is why I am involved in an initiative to correlate counts with clinical outcomes.
PRP proponents assert that concentrated Platelet Rich Plasma fails to successfully treat symptoms in some cases because of differences in PRP formulation. There is no standardization thus leading to variables, such as PRP preparation methods, the amount of PRP injected, and the frequency of injections. These inconsistencies result in issues raised by patients: “PRP didn’t work for me” and “I had 15 PRP injections to my knee and I still have pain”. In addition to studying the numbers and monitoring results, I am involved with initiatives to filter and concentrate the growth factors in PRP so as to improve outcomes as well.
1)Platelet Rich Plasma
2)Concentrated Platelet Rich Plasma
3)Concentrated Stem Cell Plasma
4)Autologous Platelet and Growth Factor Concentrate
When you call (312- 475- 1893) to schedule a consultation or watch my webinar at www.Ilcelulartherapy.com, you will avail yourself of the aforementioned Platelet Rich Plasma treatment options in addition to our entire Cellular Orthopedic menu of regenerative care.
Tags: autologous injection, autologous platelet and growth factor concentrate, hemocytometer, injection, leukocytes, Platelet Rich Plasma, PRGF, PRP, Stem Cell Plasma
Jan 5, 2018
If you read my blog posting last week, you would have learned that I personally underwent a cellular orthopedic intervention to both of my knees on Wednesday, 12/27. The symptoms attributable to my own osteoarthritis had progressed to a degree that I was becoming limited in my recreational profile. While there indeed was a response to anti-inflammatory medications, every time I am reminded of the potential complications of NSAIDS, I become medication adverse. This led to the injection into both of my knees of an Autologous Protein Concentrate (APC) with the hope of treating my pain and slowing the progression of cartilage degradation and destruction of my knees.
The process used was a cell-concentration system which concentrated my own anti-inflammatory cytokines and anabolic growth factors. Pioneered in Europe, an ever-increasing number of professional athletes have been prolonging their careers by accessing this treatment. I have waited over five years for the Autologous Protein Concentrate methodology to become available in the United States; three weeks ago, I was granted access. To date, my pain secondary to knee osteoarthritis is not only reduced but gone; I can only hope it stays that way. My function is significantly improved as evidenced by an ability to have pursued my fly fishing passion chasing bone fish with my wife, daughter-in-law and son for three days in Ascension Bay, Mexico, over the New Year weekend. For those unfamiliar, bone fishing requires a continued down and up to a platform on the front of a three-man boat with prolonged standing while balancing. At times, I climbed out of the boat and waded through the flats for 30 to 45-minute intervals until it was time to change locations. Since returning home on January 1, I have been able to return to my fitness profile without restriction previously afforded by my Osteoarthritis generated symptoms and limitations.
As in any and all treatments, a patient must be given informed consent and be warned both of the benefits and risks; so, I will let you in on an adverse event in my early outcome. Owing to the increased activity attributable to the diminution of my pain and increased functional capacity resulting from my initial response to the Autologous Protein Concentrate intervention, instead of climbing down from the fly fishing platform in the front of our boat when it was time to trade places with my wife, I jumped down. In so doing, I kicked the rod holding rack and fractured the fifth toe on my left foot, the pinky toe. Though a bit of a nuisance, it is not too great a price to pay for the relief and improved function of my knees.
To learn more, call my office and schedule an appointment; as I haven’t yet updated my web site with an explanation of the Autologous Protein Concentrate intra-articular injection for treatment of knee osteoarthritis (312) 475-1893.
Tags: anti-inflammatory, arthritis, Autologous Protein Concentrate, cytokines, Growth Factors, Hip Replacement, horse, injection, Interventional Orthopedics, joint replacement, Knee Pain Relief, Osteoarthritis, Pain Management, regenerative medicine, rheumatoid arthritis, treatment, treatment of equine lameness
