Regenerative Medicine: A Trailblazing Approach

COURTESY PHOTO
A senior hiker enjoying the views from the Delicate Arch area of Arches National Park.

At a little less than three miles across smooth terrain, the Navajo Loop Trail in Utah’s Bryce Canyon National Park is more of a nature walk than a hike. Nevertheless, many a hiking enthusiast, including Cameron*, rank it among their favorite trails.

“The reason is there’s no other place like it on Earth,” Cameron enthuses. “It’s almost like another planet. The red rock formations make it look like you’re walking around Mars. And then there’s the hoodoos, the tall spires that reach up from the bottom of the canyon.

“There’s one spot along one of the trails where you can look down on hundreds of hoodoos and it’s like you’re looking down on the spires of a hundred different red-roof churches all at once. It’s truly fabulous.”

So fabulous that 34 years ago, Cameron, now 62, vowed to visit the site once every five years. For 30 years, Cameron kept that promise to himself, but two years ago, a hip problem threatened to keep him from returning for the seventh time.

“It started off as a mild ache,” Cameron says of the discomfort in his right hip. “It stayed that way for a few months, but after that it started to intensify, and that’s when it became problematic.

“The pain became so bad that I had to give up hiking, which is what I like to do on weekends. I also had to change my usual exercise routine because it hurt to walk around the block or even take a brief 20-minute walk or run on a treadmill.

“I was OK walking around the house or at work, but if I was on my legs for any more than 10 or 15 minutes, it started to hurt, so it was hard for me to mow the lawn or go to the grocery store or mall. That’s why I eventually went to an orthopedist to see what was up.”

An MRI ordered by the orthopedist revealed that “bone-on-bone arthritis” was the cause of Cameron’s pain. The remedy, the orthopedist told him, was a hip replacement.

“That was the last thing I wanted to hear,” Cameron says. “I’ve always been a very active guy. I like to be out doing things, and I just couldn’t see myself sitting around for who knows how long recovering from surgery and rehabbing and all that goes into that.

“So, right from the start, I asked the orthopedist if there was another solution. And I have to give him credit because he was the one who mentioned regenerative medicine. He said he didn’t know if I was a candidate, but he said it was worth looking into.”

And look into it he did. Cameron spent three months researching regenerative medicine. Along the way, he visited three practices that specialize in the advanced therapy before eventually deciding to receive treatment from QC Kinetix.

Starts With a Blood Draw

A local practice with a national reputation, QC Kinetix offers drug-free regenerative medicine treatments for soft tissue pain, joint pain and musculoskeletal conditions. As an alternative to medications and surgeries, QC Kinetix’s therapies trigger the body’s natural ability to repair itself using healing properties found in the blood.

That blood is gathered from the patient during a typical blood draw. The blood is then placed in a centrifuge to extract its healing properties, which are injected into the areas of pain to spark tissue regeneration.

“Regenerative medicine is a great alternative for many people who thought surgery was their only option,” says Daniel Sucherman, MD, the medical director of QC Kinetix Suncoast, which has locations in Bradenton, St. Petersburg, Brandon and Lakeland.

After years as a key member of an orthopedic surgical team, Dr. Sucherman recognized the need for a better way to help people in pain. A strong believer in regenerative medicine and the positive impact it can have, he chose to meet that need through QC Kinetix.

“I’m an anesthesiologist, primarily for orthopedic surgery, and I know that people who go to an orthopedic surgeon for pain are commonly told they need surgery,” Dr. Sucherman explains. “And believe me, surgery has its place. But it is very strenuous on the body. It involves a lot of cutting, drilling, sawing and hammering, and the recovery process is very arduous.

“In many cases, there is an alternative. That’s why I became involved with QC Kinetix. I want to offer people an alternative to surgery, pain medications and steroids for their joint pain. That is exactly what QC Kinetix and its regenerative medicine treatments do.”

Although regenerative medicine is on the leading-edge of medical science, it is not a new concept. The most basic principles have been practiced for years. At QC Kinetix, the process has been updated to provide better results.

For example, QC Kinetix uses state-of-the-art equipment that allows for the retrieval of the most beneficial healing factors from blood. In addition, the process can obtain components from young blood cells with extensive self-renewal properties.

QC Kinetix works with patients across multiple visits, providing treatments that are customized for each case. Symptom improvement is monitored for several months with no patient downtime. Most patients complete their treatments within six months and experience ongoing benefits.

“Another feature that sets QC Kinetix apart is that we do all of this in-house,” Dr. Sucherman points out. “Your blood and tissue never leave our office. And we do all this while you’re in the office. When we’re done, you simply go about your normal activities.”

Regenerative medicine can be used to treat pain from arthritis and from muscle or tendon tears almost anywhere in the body, including the knees and shoulders, ankles and wrists, hips, low back, and neck.

“The ability to treat so many areas of the body is one of the biggest benefits of our program,” says Haley Weaver, PA-C, a certified physician’s assistant with QC Kinetix. “And we do that by mimicking the body’s natural healing mechanism. We’re not just putting a band-aid on something or temporarily suppressing inflammation. We’re sparking a natural healing process. To do that you need more than one blood product, so we extract different components from each blood draw.
-Haley Weaver, PA-C

“Every time you get treated by us, more than one of those components are delivered to the area we’re treating because our goal is to keep supplying that damaged tissue with the ability to heal itself naturally over time. Each treatment acts as a building block for the next.”

QC Kinetix also provides proliferation therapy, or prolotherapy, which Haley describes as “a treatment of sugar water that agitates the tissue in the treatment area in a very controlled way. The agitation stimulates healing properties and tells the body to keep sending all those good healing properties to the area that’s being treated.”

Skip the Surgery

Cameron first visited QC Kinetix in spring 2023. During that visit, he learned he was a candidate for the regenerative medicine protocol. Two weeks later, after discussing the treatment with his primary care physician, Cameron agreed to proceed.

“My primary care physician thought it was a much better option for me than surgery, and that kind of sealed the deal for me,” Cameron says. “I was hoping he would say something good about them because I felt more comfortable with QC Kinetix than anyone else.

“The thing that sold me was the way in which they determined I was a candidate for the treatment. After reviewing my MRI, they actually sat down with me and showed me where there was still tissue to build on inside my hip.

“The other thing I liked about their approach was that it was never a hard sell. They explained exactly how the treatment works and said, It’s all up to you. We’re confident this will help you, but it’s important that you feel confident about it, too.”

Boosted by his primary care physician’s endorsement, Cameron began receiving treatment from QC Kinetix in early April 2023. By May, he was already beginning to feel the positive effects of the protocol, and by June, he was resuming his normal workout routine.

“I didn’t jump right back into anything,” Cameron says. “I went slow, starting with short walks that lasted just 10 or 15 minutes. But after a couple of weeks, I knew I could have walked longer and eventually I did.

“It’s been almost a year since I received my first treatment, and I am happy to say that my trip to Bryce Canyon is back on. I’ll be going there for the seventh time in the fall, and it’s all because of the treatment I received from QC Kinetix.

“Their regenerative medicine treatments really worked. In a couple of months, I went from experiencing this sharp, stabbing pain in my hip to feeling nothing at all, and I could not be happier because I did it without surgery.

“I really can’t say enough good things about QC Kinetix. The staff there is great, and they do a magnificent job of explaining how the treatment works. I would absolutely recommend them to anyone who is suffering with joint pain and facing surgery.

“Before you agree to surgery, go to QC Kinetix and see what it can do for you because there’s a good chance you won’t need the surgery and be better off. I know I am.”

*Patient’s name changed at their request.