Regenerative therapies – including stem cell treatments – are a hot topic among consumers and health care professionals. But like most "buzz trends," it often becomes difficult to sift through wild claims and harsh criticisms to determine who's telling the truth. Once you cross into protocols that do not involve allopathic medicine and drugs, you know the picture will become involved with subterfuge.
Stem cell therapy is no different, as it is an option to heal the body from within and address the actual cause of the ailment instead of masking symptoms. It's making quite a splash in the medical community as more practitioners identify the benefits of regenerative medicine.
Myths and Truths About Stem Cell Therapy
As a practitioner, you may have heard madly contrasting stories about stem cell and regenerative therapies. But what is true and what are bogeyman scare tactics? Among the most-heard questions and statements are the following...
Stem cell therapy operate in the gray moral area, crossing the line using fetal tissue. Not true whatsoever for procedures used in the U.S., as protocols are completely devoid of any use of fetus materials whatsoever. Stem cells used in U.S. treatments are taken from adipose fat tissue, umbilical cord blood, Wharton's Jelly or from bone marrow. Each source has its pros and cons, depending on what ailment is being treated, but none has anything to do with any fetal matter.
The treatments are scary, unpredictable and full of nightmarish possibilities. Stem cell therapy is extremely gentle on the body, especially when compared to the surgeries one would undertake typically if not going the stem cell route (back / neck surgeries, knee / hip replacement procedures, etc.). Most methods are minimally invasive, and most patients are pleasantly surprised at how painless and smooth the process is. During the procedure, most patients report that the protocol is nearly pain-free, with relief often occurring quickly: within days, hours or even minutes.
Regenerative therapies are good, but stem cell treatments are not regenerative therapy. Stem cell therapy is indeed regenerative medicine - protocols that emphasize repairing and regenerating cells within the body. Stem cell therapy qualifies because it promotes the body to heal itself, from within, not employing any "foreign biological materials."
This is absolutely not what allopathic care focuses on, which is fraught with chemical drugs and dangerous surgeries that often can do more harm than healing.
Recovery can be a quagmire. Not even close to being true. Most patients walk out already feeling better than prior to treatment. At most, patients are usually returning to a full life schedule within a week of treatment.
When likened to the recovery time for surgery, stem cell therapy is a much more attractive option. Any surgery requiring anesthesia is much more complicated from that element alone. Most patients experience very little, if any, pain during recovery; usually mild swelling to the injection area is the extent of discomfort experienced.
Most Common Perceived Barriers / Objections to Stem Cell Treatment
Consumers are becoming more educated when it comes to stem cell treatments, but health care practitioners are also getting better informed not only about the protocols, but also in the business side of regenerative therapies. Here are some of the common objections voiced by practitioners who are not familiar with stem cell treatment:
"I don't have the start-up capital." Not to be glib, but "You have to spend money to make money" and "Swing big or go home." OK, that may be construed as an over-simplification. You've made investments in the past, such as your degree in chiropractic, your equipment (tables, the rent or mortgage on your office, etc.). Offering regenerative therapies will require some investment, but there are reasonable options on how to fund it.
So, before you dismiss offering the therapies out of hand, at least discover what the cost really is and if there are options that would allow you to proceed without being "bent over a barrel."
"It's just too complicated." It may be, depending on your personality, and it isn't for all chiropractors. If you are the type who races toward learning and figuring out new procedures or protocols, you may thrive in regenerative medicine. If you are more comfortable with just staying in the spinal adjustment lane, it may not be for you. It all depends on how you are wired.
"It's too risky." There is a lot less perceived risk after you become educated on what it entails. Hundreds of chiropractors have successfully traversed the regenerative therapy landscape by partnering with MDs, so you don't have to "reinvent the wheel" so to speak.
As mentioned previously, if you thrive at discovering and mastering new protocols, it won't seem daunting; it can actually "re-purpose" you and make you feel reborn, as it has for hundreds of other chiropractors.
"I'm not comfortable with an MD / NP relationship." It's not the 1980s anymore. It's not even the 1990s. Relationships between chiropractors and MDs / NPs has evolved over the past decade; there is far more "partnering" among health care professionals and regenerative therapies absolutely call for MD / NP involvement. When all parties have the patients' best interest at the forefront, it creates strong teamwork.
Dr. Brent Detelich, former president of the Stem Cell Institute of America (www.americastem.com), is a 1993 graduate of Parker College and a second-generation chiropractor. During the past five years, he and his medical team helped to train more than 300 practices on medical integration for the purpose of offering safe, effective and compliant regenerative therapies.