Dancing Pain-Free: Victoria’s Journey to Relieving Knee Pain with Regenerative Medicine

Looking for a way to meet people and “have some fun” following her divorce 20 years ago, Victoria Walker took up ballroom dancing. It was on the dance floor where a new passion was ignited that burns strongly to this day. “Oh, I absolutely love it,” Victoria says of ballroom dancing. “I probably enjoy the Latin steps most of all, the salsa and bachata, but waltzes are good too. I love them all. I don’t have a regular partner, but there are plenty of good dancers and teachers to dance with.” There are plenty of opportunities to engage with those dance partners as well. Victoria says that if she wanted to, she could find a dance class or dance in her area every night. As it is, she limits herself to just three nights of dancing per week. “Dancing is tough on the body and causes a lot of wear and tear,” the 71-year-old says. “I know because it did a lot of damage to my knees. I first started to feel it there five years ago, and after a while, I went to see my doctor about it.” That doctor diagnosed Victoria with arthritis in both knees, although she says the discomfort in her right knee was far worse. That discomfort eventually turned to pain and stiffness that disrupted almost every aspect of Victoria’s life. “It mostly bothered me at night, so I definitely had to cut back on dancing,” Victoria explains. “But if I didn’t keep moving, my knee would stiffen up and then it would really hurt, so it became quite a problem for me. “It stiffened up a lot while I was sleeping at night, so it was very painful when I woke up and tried to move it again. But it also stiffened up like that if I was just out to dinner for a couple of hours or went to a movie or a show. “It was so bad that I couldn’t drive long distances because my knee would stiffen up and get so sore. Flying on a plane was even worse, so I knew I had to do something about it because I didn’t want to live with all that pain and discomfort anymore.” During another visit to her doctor, Victoria was told she would eventually need to have both knees replaced. Victoria wanted nothing to do with surgery, however, so she tried some other remedies first, including injections of cortisone and hyaluronic acid. “I tried that for a few months, but it didn’t really help much,” Victoria reports. “After that, I said to myself, Well, I’ve got try something else. That’s when I started checking around about other options, and that’s how I found Dr. Grana.”

New-Age Specialty

Erick A Grana, MD, is the founder of Regenerative Orthopedic Institute in Tampa, where he specializes in regenerative medicine, a treatment protocol that promotes new growth in tissue ravaged by injury, arthritis or degeneration. “Regenerative medicine therapy treats disease and injuries by harnessing the body’s natural healing powers,” Dr. Grana educates. “The natural healing process occurs by combining patients’ stem cells with platelet rich plasma (PRP), which is a concentration of platelets from their own blood. “Regenerative medicine therapy requires only injections into the damaged joint. Unlike surgery, which can result in blood loss, scarring and long, painful recovery periods, this process results in a safe, effective treatment.” Stem cells are the most basic building blocks of tissues and organs, and they can be collected directly from the bone marrow or the fat of the patient. There are no side effects or rejection. The procedure to collect tissue is similar to a blood draw. Once the tissue has been harvested, the stem cells and PRP are isolated and injected into the affected areas to spark the regeneration of damaged tissue. Regenerative medicine therapy can be used to treat damage in the knees, shoulders, ankles, wrists, hips, back and neck. It can also be used to treat arthritis and peripheral neuropathy as well as muscle and tendon tears throughout the body. At Regenerative Orthopedic Institute, Dr. Grana developed a system for delivering restorative tissue and PRP into the spine called RegenaSpine™. He also developed a similar system to treat damaged joints called RegenaJoint™.

JORDAN PYSZ / iFoundMyDoctor.com
Victoria is dancing and living life pain-free thanks to RegenaJoint treatments from Regenerative Orthopedic Institute.

Rapid Relief

Victoria spent several weeks researching regenerative medicine and physicians in the area who specialize in the procedure. She chose Dr. Grana because he only uses autologous restorative tissue, which is taken directly from the patient. “I didn’t want a doctor who uses someone else’s tissue, and I liked Dr. Grana’s office and manner,” Victoria states. “He explained the entire process to me and showed me the x-rays of my knees and how the damage was causing all the problems I was having.” During Victoria’s initial visit to the practice this year, Dr. Grana determined that she was a good candidate for RegenaJoint, which he began administering that day. Though her right knee brought her more pain, Victoria received the treatment in both. Victoria says the treatments alleviated her pain and stiffness, and she soon resumed her busy dancing schedule. “I feel much better, and I just had this done a few months ago,” Victoria exudes. “I know the stem cells still have some work to do in terms of regenerating the cartilage, but I am very pleased with the results so far. I am very encouraged. “I’m also quite amazed at the whole process, really. I mean, the idea of stem cells generating new growth in a part of your body is really amazing. It’s like a miracle, and there’s no risk because there’s no cutting or anything. “You really have nothing to lose by trying this, so I would definitely recommend regenerative medicine to others. And I absolutely recommend Dr. Grana and Regenerative Orthopedic Institute. He’s great, a really fantastic doctor.”