Apr 10, 2018
Every year at this time, we each recall and celebrate several significant events of historic, cultural and spiritual importance. No matter what your roots or upbringing or present belief, these past eight days usually involve a gathering of friends and family to jointly read and remember that which happened long ago and still impacts us today. Whether done in a house of worship or in the home, somehow, we ask similar questions and teach our children and grandchildren that which befell us in ancient days. To underscore those similarities, some years ago, when my son had his Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall, a Franciscan Monk who I had come to know invited us the next day to a Pre-Easter service at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Other than The Gregorian chants and the frankincense, the superstructure of the 90-minute service was quite familiar.
I use this yearly celebration to reflect and meditate; it also initiates the spring cleaning ritual in our house. Having grown up in Humboldt Park and later Albany Park to parents who left Europe in time, Passover meant it was time to clean and wash the kitchen cabinets, recycle, and dispose of certain foods. On Division Street, we lived near my orthodox grandparents; in Albany Park, they lived with us, so the everyday plates and silverware were taken to the basement and exchanged for special settings reserved for this time of year.
Certainly, times have changed and we have assimilated; but my wife still prepares the appropriate meals for the week and makes sure the house is immaculate. Then the family and company visits end and we are challenged by the need to address the residual back scuffs on our wood kitchen floor; lots of them and pronounced. Here is where the ultimate test of the cellular orthopedic intervention to my own hips and knees, now almost four months ago comes into play.
With the coverage varying between the Masters, Cubs, and Sox games in the background, we genuflexed, spread the Murphy Oil Soap and started rubbing away with microfiber wipes. This exercise lasted about two hours, admittedly with several breaks. Nevertheless, we accomplished our mission and I got up unassisted to head to the health club for my strength training respite.
This morning, Section one of the Chicago Tribune carried three full pages, in color, competing ads concerning Regenerative Medicine; none giving much information about science or outcomes but certainly employing one-time prominent athletes as spoke persons. Is it worth a free lunch to become a marketing dupe? As readers of my Blog know, I myself had Cellular Orthopedic intervention to my knees at the end of 2017 and to my hips at the start of 2018. This morning I scheduled two ski trips in 2019 to Vail; on Saturday morning, I am headed to Southwest Wisconsin for a long weekend to bike and fly fish; and I am on standby at any time to genuflex and spread that murphy oil soap.
So as advertised on Friday night Cable, you may receive a $250 gift certificate for attending a Stem Cell Seminar, or you may get examined and receive counsel from this orthopedic surgeon focusing on Cellular orthopedics. For the latter call 312 475 1893 to schedule an appointment, one on one. You may access my web site and watch the webinar at www.Ilcellulartherapy.com
Tags: arthritis, genuflex, Hip pain, Hip Replacement, knee arthritis, knee injury, knee pain, Osteoarthritis
Apr 5, 2018
If you remember those children’s song lyrics, you will march right up the skeleton. The orthopedic message is that what’s happening in your foot and ankle will affect the well-being of your knee and hip. I was reminded of the continuum on Tuesday when a patient I had treated in November of 2017 returned for follow up this past Tuesday. Once a prominent running back at the college level, he had presented 20 years after a “high ankle sprain” with a Talar Dome Lesion at the right ankle and early onset post traumatic arthritis; in plain speak, an injury to the cartilage and underlying bone. Not only did the right ankle impairment affect his foot and ankle, he was experiencing progressive pain in his knee and hip thus altering his gait, his fitness pursuits and forcing change in his recreational profile. Running was no longer possible nor was snowboarding.
Increasingly, these Talar Dome lesions or osteochondral injuries are being diagnosed long after what was thought to have been a sprained ankle. In the case of my patient, last November, I performed a minimally invasive procedure wherein bone marrow was aspirated from his pelvis, concentrated, processed, and injected into both the ankle joint and bone marrow defect of the talus under fluoroscopic guidance. Osteochondral injuries and bone marrow lesions are a continuum of small posttraumatic defects that pathologists have shown represent a failed healing response. Most readily diagnosed on an MRI, with time, a rim of sclerosis may develop so the abnormality may lend itself to diagnosis with an X-ray. This type of defect is not limited to the ankle and may be found throughout the extremities and pelvis. They may be found in any joint region that sees weight bearing or repetitive stress though; most commonly, they are associated with trauma as was the case, though long removed in my patient.
In the case of this vignette, on Tuesday I had determined that ankle and subtalar joint motions had become symmetrical. He no longer complained of pain; equally important, the bony defect and joint changes could no longer be seen on X-ray. In short, he had healed. In the past six months, I have followed two other equally rewarding Bone Marrow (stem cell/growth factor/platelet) intervention outcomes at the talus and more than six around the knee.
If you are experiencing joint pain and altered function without an explanation or in spite of a course of “conservative” treatment, it may be time to learn more about how Bone Marrow Concentrate, that is stem cells, platelets and growth factors, may relieve bone and joint pain, restore function and help you postpone, perhaps even avoid a major surgical procedure.
Call 312 475 1896 to schedule a consultation or visit my web site and watch the webinar at www.ilcellulartherapy.com
Tags: ankle pain, bone lesion, bone marrow, Cartilage, joint pain, Mesenchymal Stem Cell, Osteoarthritis, osteochondral defect, osteochondral injurie, Osteochondritis Dissecans, Subchondroplasty, Talar Dome lesions
Mar 19, 2018
The scientific facts do not support one “stem cell” treatment for all. Osteoarthritis is a complex process and we now know for what there has been recently identified two distinct genetic subgroups. OA is a joint disease with variable causes, symptoms and outcome. It is estimated that genetic makeup accounts for about 50% predisposition while major risk factors also include aging, trauma and obesity. Disease changes in most joint tissues include cartilage, bone, synovium, ligaments, and adjunct tissues, secondarily muscle, leading to pain and altered function. The progression of OA leads to abnormal intra-articular failure of repair as a result of biochemical, biomechanical and aforementioned genetic factors.
Over the last several days, three patient related encounters have captured my attention and I thought it would be worth examining in this blog. I received a phone call from the husband of a patient who had undergone a regenerative procedure in California some months earlier on both knees; and while the procedure had benefitted one side, the other knee was actually worse than prior to the procedure. He was looking for an explanation. Not ever having assessed the patient in my office, it is most difficult to opine as there are multiple possibilities including the genetic subgroup stratification factor. Most recently, I have observed that patients with swelling (effusion) at the time of an intervention do not do as well as those without effusion. There are several reasons behind the negative influence, but I now make sure to remove the unwanted fluid prior to the delivery of cellular product.
The second patient related issue called to my attention was the result of a question “may I use a cane?” If ever there were an uncomplicated adjunct for an osteoarthritic hip or knee, the tried and proven benefit of a walking stick needs to be reemphasized. There are no side effects from a cane; no ulcers, strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, etc., and so forth. The cane or walking stick has no downside. They enhance pain relief while walking, assist in stability, prevent falls and are readily available, should it be needed as a defensive facilitator. When you watch the annual screening of the movie classic Moses, Prince of Egypt next Passover and Easter weekend, you may be reminded about the history of the use of a walking stick. The Pharaohs did it, Shepherds used them, Moses did, Jesus did and so do I (when I fly fish or I used to).
Finally, let’s relive my own personal weekend experience. It was Saturday afternoon in the Driftless area of Southwest Wisconsin on Tainter Creek. I parked the car and walked down a gravel road, semi vaulting a barbed wire fence, thus gaining access to a very long stretch of the creek. Though the cow pasture was fenced off, the posted DNR sign indicated that public fishing was legal. I walked for 20 minutes down the uneven, rocky trail until I decided it was time to enter the stream. As a climbed down the embankment, I reached back for my walking stick and immediately realized it in the trunk of the car. This marks the first time in seven years I was able to do what I had just done without my walking stick. The event took place 12 weeks after my cellular orthopedic right and left knee procedures and 10 weeks following those in my hips.
If you want more information, call and schedule a consultation: (312) 475-1893
You may visit my web site and watch the webinar www.ilcellulartherapy .com
Tags: bone, cane, Cartilage, knee pain, ligaments, Osteoarthritis, secondarily muscle, synovium
Feb 26, 2018
For one, to the best of my knowledge, he doesn’t ski but I did earn a letter as a member of the Roosevelt High, basketball team. No, the common ground is the fact that we both have undergone a similar intervention for osteoarthritis of the knee. Six years or so before Bryant’s retirement, he traveled to Dusseldorf, Germany to undergo an orthobiologic intervention for an arthritic knee that was threatening to prematurely end his playing career. That orthobiologic intervention was unavailable at the time in the United States; but professional athletes were traveling to Dusseldorf to help prolong their careers. I closely followed the outcomes and was amazed to see Kobe Bryant’s return to professional basketball following his procedure for five more years, given he had stage four Osteoarthritis of his knee. His knee X-Ray was available on the internet. At the same time, I postponed my surgical procedures knowing that both of my knees and both of my hips were problematic, waiting for access to a treatment similar to that which the professional athletes were having in Europe. Last September, as an invited speaker at the Russian Orthopedic Society annual meeting, I was able to gain access to the treatment regimen very much available by now in Western Europe and Great Britain. My hope was to partake in a family ski vacation from February 17 to 24. On December 27, I underwent biologic intervention into both of my knees; and on January 11, both of my hips.
On Saturday, I returned from a ski week in Vail, including my wife, three children, one daughter-in-law and five grandchildren. Two other spouses don’t ski. I skied six consecutive days with my wife, children and at times, grandchildren. It was an opportunity for returning to the thrilling days of yesteryear as far as skiing was concerned, made possible by Orthobiologics. Imagine, three months ago I was experiencing painful limitations in both hips and in both knees; now I am planning a return four-day skiing visit at the end of March to catch the spring powder. I don’t know if I can help you ski; but I can help you overcome limitations imposed by arthritic joints.
Citing Oliver Wendel Holmes; “We do not quit playing because we grow old; we grow old because we quit playing”.
To learn more visit: www.ilcellulartherapy.com or call for an appointment 312 475 1893
Tags: arthritis, biologic intervention, Clinical Trial. Mitchell B. Sheinkop, FDA, Hip pain, Interventional Orthopedics, knee pain, Knee Pain Relief, Kobe Bryant, Orthopedics, Osteoarthritis
Feb 16, 2018
I am sitting at my computer this morning writing the weekly Blog posting and not attending the IOF meeting taking place today in Broomfield, Colorado; yet I am reporting about the meeting. Instead of attending, I am preparing for a week-long ski adventure with my family next week in Vail, Colorado while trying to catch up in my practice. How is it than possible that I know what is taking place at the meeting? Listed below are five of the 10 ongoing or completed cellular orthopedic clinical trials in which I am a principal investigator or co-researcher. The preliminary and final data resulting from these clinical research initiatives is the outcomes foundation for what is being presented at the IOF podium today and tomorrow.
1) Stem Cell Counts and the Outcome of Bone Marrow Concentrate intra-articular and intra-osseous (subchondroplasty) interventions at the knee for grades 2 and 3 OA. (supported in part by Celling). Ongoing
2) Outcomes of Bone Marrow Concentrate (stem cell, platelet and growth factor) Intervention at the Knee for Grades 2 and 3 OA in 50 patients at 2 to 4 years. (supported in part by Regenexx)
3) Outcomes of Intra-articular Bone Marrow Concentrate versus those of combined Intraarticular and Intraosseous interventions for grades 2 and 3 OA at the knee at one year. (self-funded). Ongoing
4) How does the PRP and Mononucleated cell count affect the outcome of a BMC intervention for grades 2 and 3 Knee OA? (a joint project with Greyledge) Ongoing
5) Safety and Efficacy of Percutaneous Injection of Micro-Fractured Adipose Tissue for grade 4 Osteoarthritic Knees, minimum follow-up of 18 months in 30 patients (supported in part by Lipogems)
I had to prioritize; and since most of the arthritis data being presented is all or in part mine, I already know the subject matter. By staying home, I also found the opportunity to browse “stem cell” websites as suggested by ads in today’s newspapers or introduced by email blasts this week. Wow, a patient acting more like a consumer is really at risk for succumbing to Regenerative Medicine “false news”.
If you want to learn more about the difference between the stem cell purveyors and a legitimate, FDA compliant, evidence based, cellular orthopedics initiative, call to schedule a consultation or to get a second opinion.
You may schedule a visit at (312) 475-1893
You may access my website and watch a webinar at www.ilcellulartherapy.com
Tags: arthritis, bone marrow, Celling, cellular orthopedics, Growth Factors, Hip pain, International Orthopedics Foundation, joint pain, knee arthritis, knee intervention, knee pain, lipogems, Micro-Fractured Adipose, Osteoarthritis, PRP, regenerative medicine, Regenexx, stem cells, Subchondroplasty
