Dr. Patel offers the most comprehensive approach to non-surgical care of the spine, including the most advanced cell therapy and PRP platelet procedures.
At The Patel Center for Functional Regeneration in Los Angeles County, Dr. Shounuck Patel takes a holistic approach to get to the root cause of your spine condition. We focus not only on treating the pain, but also the underlying reason for the pain – for long term benefit. We offer a range of procedures developed ultimately to help patients avoid spine surgery and the side effects of epidural steroid injections or chronic pain medications.
Comprehensive
At The Patel Center for Functional Regeneration, Dr. Patel has created a method that combines his training in hands-on Osteopathic manipulation, non-surgical Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, traditional Interventional Pain Management & Sports Medicine, and advanced Regenerative Medicine.
As a board-certified medical Doctor of Osteopathy, Dr. Patel learned to tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy tissue with his hands. He furthermore trained in using those same hands to manually adjust the body to align the spine and get the tissues moving correctly.
In his specialty of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Dr. Patel trained at the world renowned Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation, a model system for spinal cord injury. There, he learned to incorporate exercise, physical therapy, and a functional approach to returning from injury. Dr. Patel did a fellowship in Interventional Pain Management & Sports Medicine, in which he did thousands of traditional spine procedures under the mentorship of Dr. Mike Furman who wrote the preeminent medical atlas for image-guided spinal procedures.
Although he is able to do all traditional pain management procedures, Dr. Patel chose to further specialize with extensive training in regenerative medicine techniques through Regenexx and the Interventional Orthobiologics Foundation, the latter for which he now teaches regenerative spine procedure techniques to physicians from around the world.
By combining his extensive experience, Dr. Patel has created a multi-faceted approach to address all components of the functional spinal unit. A traditional approach often involves injecting cortisone at the pain generator, but therefore only treats the effect and not the cause. We use a combination of prescribed exercise, manual therapy, and a patient’s own orthobiologic solutions such as cells & PRP in precise image-guided injections.
Arthritis can occur anywhere in the body, but in the spine it is more frequent in the lumbar lower back and cervical neck. Arthritis can have various causes, but the most common is osteoarthritis (OA) which is considered to be due to normal wear and tear. Osteoarthritis can involve the facet joints as well as the intervertebral discs, and 95% of men and 70% of women have at least one sign of arthritis on imaging over the age of sixty. Osteoarthritis doesnot have to produce pain. In fact, osteoarthritis commonly occurs with no associated symptoms. When spinal arthritis does become bothersome, back or neck pain and stiffness are the most common symptoms.
A pinched nerve occurs when there is compression of a nerve in the spine. This commonly can occur by abnormal pressure from a bulging or herniated disc. When this takes place in the neck, this is called cervical radiculopathy. Burners and stingers refer to symptoms of nerve compression (or stretch) that are associated with a sudden injury or trauma. Symptoms include pain, numbness, tingling and/or weakness going down the arm(s), but can also present commonly as pain in the shoulder or upper back. Even symptoms exclusively in the elbow or hand can be coming from a pinched nerve in the neck.
The sacroiliac joints (or SI joints) are the interface between the base of the spine (sacrum) and the back part of the pelvis (ilium). Once thought to be immobile, these joints have very important functions and are surrounded by a complex web of ligaments. Injury, immobility, hypermobility, or inflammation of the SI joints can cause pain in the low back, buttocks, hips, or even down the legs. Oftentimes, SI joint dysfunction is due to an underlying cause which needs to be discovered and addressed in order to have long lasting pain relief.
Spinal stenosis refers to narrowing of the spaces within your spine in which the nerves travel. Stenosis occurs most frequently in the lower back (lumbar) and neck (cervical), and less often in the upper back (thoracic). This decrease in space in the spine can be caused by arthritis, disc bulging, soft tissue, or a combination of factors, and ultimately can put pressure on the nerves that travel through the spine. Since the nerves are the electrical wiring to the arms and the legs that carry sensory information such as pain signals as well as instructions to the muscles, spinal stenosis can lead to pain, numbness, and/or weakness in the limbs.
Degenerated disc patients tend to lose disc height which can lead to a wide range of complications. Our treatment protocol focuses on platelet and/or cell technologies deployed to treat sloppy disc movement due to lax ligaments and arthritic facet joints. Dr. Patel’s procedures provide non-surgical treatment options for patients suffering from the complications associated with degenerative disc disease. By carefully targeting the right procedure to the impacted areas of the spine, patients can avoid spinal fusion surgery or frequent high dose steroid epidural injections and their associated side effects.
A pinched nerve occurs when there is compression of a nerve in the spine. This commonly can occur by abnormal pressure from a bulging or herniated disc. When this takes place in the low back, this is called lumbar radiculopathy or more commonly sciatica. Sciatica can also refer to pinching of the sciatic nerve that occurs outside of the spine as it travels through the buttocks and down the leg. Symptoms of a pinched nerve include pain, numbness, tingling and/or weakness going down the leg(s), but can also present commonly as pain in the hips or buttocks. Even symptoms exclusively in the foot can be coming from a pinched nerve in the back!
Dr. Shounuck Patel, DO is a leader in the field of orthopedic regenerative medicine.
Get on a path to comprehensive healing and long-term pain relief today! Learn about how Dr. Patel can help heal your spine injury or cervical condition. We service Los Angeles County, Orange County and San Diego County. For more information contact our patient concierge at info@fxregencenter.com or call us at (310) 929-9790.