How Bone Marrow Concentrate is Changing the Game in Orthopedic Healing

If you suffer from joint pain, arthritis, or another type of orthopedic injury, you’ve likely been given a few cortisone shots and eventually told you need joint replacement surgery.

At Carolina Joint and Arthritis, however, we have pioneered a more natural, effective treatment for orthopedic conditions: bone marrow aspirate concentrate, or BMAC. This regenerative medical procedure not only reduces the pain from your injury, but it also promotes bone, cartilage, and soft tissue healing.

Here’s how BMAC is changing the game in orthopedic healing.

What is BMAC?

If you experience chronic pain in a particular part of your body, you likely don’t have an adequate blood supply or regenerative cells going to the area to repair the damage that’s been done. BMAC is often the perfect procedure for this situation. 

Dr. Austin Yeargan, who pioneered this field, removes a sample of bone marrow from your hip using a simple needle puncture. This blood is then centrifuged to concentrate the growth factors and stem cells in one powerful solution.

Dr. Yeargan then injects the BMAC directly into the injury site using fluoroscopic image guidance. His injections go directly into the subchondral bone beneath the injured cartilage, surrounding the damaged cartilage with signaling cells ready to start the healing process.

The growth factors and platelets also help with healing by reducing inflammation and supporting the regeneration of new cells.

Because this technique is so powerful (the stem cells can differentiate into new bone, cartilage, or soft tissue cells — whatever is needed), it has huge potential to heal patients with  difficult orthopedic conditions, like severe arthritis.

What can I expect?

BMAC works well for patients dealing with conditions such as tendinopathies, osteoarthritis, ligament tears, damaged cartilage, and more. It’s a same-day, minimally invasive outpatient procedure. You may be sore at the injection site for a few days, but your downtime will be minimal.

Because BMAC focuses on natural regenerative processes, it’s more effective than traditional treatments. If you’re tired of your joint pain and the old, outdated methods used to treat orthopedic injuries in the past, we specialized in BMAC treatments at Carolina Joint and Arthritis.

Dr. Yeargan would love to build a personalized treatment plan to help reduce your pain and restore the life you love. To schedule an appointment, call our Wilmington, North Carolina, office or book your own time with our convenient online scheduler.