Regenerative Injection Therapy in Ashland, Oregon

Regenerative injection therapy and cortisone (corticosteroid) injections represent fundamentally opposite treatment philosophies—one stimulates tissue healing and rebuilding, while the other suppresses inflammation to provide temporary relief while potentially causing progressive tissue damage. Cortisone injections work by powerfully suppressing your immune system's inflammatory response, which reduces pain quickly but does nothing to repair underlying structural damage and actually inhibits healing processes your body needs for tissue regeneration. With repeated use, cortisone degrades cartilage in arthritic joints, weakens tendons (increasing rupture risk), causes ligament laxity, suppresses local immune function, and can create systemic side effects including blood sugar elevation, bone density loss, and hormonal disruption. Many orthopedic surgeons now limit cortisone injections to 3-4 lifetime per joint due to these degenerative effects. In contrast, regenerative injection therapy at Valley Integrative Health uses natural substances—dextrose solutions, medical ozone, vitamins, and your own platelet-rich plasma—that stimulate controlled therapeutic inflammation to attract healing cells that rebuild damaged ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. While cortisone provides immediate relief that fades within weeks to months, regenerative injections may cause temporary increased soreness for 2-4 days as healing inflammation develops, followed by progressive, cumulative improvement over a treatment series as tissues actually regenerate. The end result with regenerative therapy is stronger, healthier tissue and lasting pain resolution, while cortisone often leaves patients worse than before—many of Dr. Wilson's regenerative injection patients are individuals whose joints and tendons were damaged by excessive cortisone use at conventional pain management clinics. Dr. Wilson's non-steroid approach aligns with Valley Integrative Health's patient-first philosophy of addressing root causes and promoting genuine healing rather than symptom suppression that creates dependency on repeated interventions while underlying damage worsens.

Regenerative injection therapy involves some discomfort during the procedure, but Dr. Wilson's expert technique and use of local anesthetic in most injection formulas makes treatment surprisingly tolerable for most patients. During the injection session itself, you'll feel needle insertion—a brief pinch or sting—followed by a deeper aching or pressure sensation as the regenerative solution infiltrates tissues. Most patients describe this as moderately uncomfortable but very manageable, lasting only seconds per injection site. Dr. Wilson's skill from performing thousands of regenerative injections over a decade means precise needle placement with minimal tissue trauma, and his inclusion of procaine (local anesthetic) in prolozone formulas provides immediate numbing that makes those treatments especially comfortable. After treatment, expect soreness at injection sites for 2-4 days as the therapeutic inflammation develops—this healing response is essential for tissue regeneration and indicates treatment is working properly. The post-injection soreness typically feels like a deep ache or bruised sensation, generally manageable with acetaminophen if needed (avoid NSAIDs like ibuprofen since they suppress the beneficial inflammation we're stimulating). You can return to normal daily activities immediately, though Dr. Wilson recommends avoiding strenuous exercise, heavy lifting, or repetitive use of treated areas for 3-5 days to allow optimal healing initiation. Some patients feel energized after injections, while others experience mild fatigue—both responses are normal. By day 4-5 post-injection, soreness typically resolves and many patients notice improved function and reduced pain compared to baseline. This improvement builds progressively with each subsequent treatment in your series. PRP injections typically cause more post-procedure soreness than prolotherapy or prolozone, sometimes lasting 5-7 days, and require more activity restriction (1-2 weeks) since growth factors need time to recruit healing cells without mechanical disruption. Dr. Wilson provides detailed post-treatment instructions and is available to address concerns during recovery, ensuring you understand what's normal versus what might require attention.

The number of regenerative injection treatments required depends on several factors including your injury severity and chronicity, the specific structures damaged (cartilage regenerates slower than ligaments), your overall health and healing capacity, which regenerative technique is used, and how your body responds to initial treatments. At Valley Integrative Health, Dr. Wilson creates personalized treatment protocols during your comprehensive evaluation rather than applying generic formulas, ensuring your treatment series matches your clinical needs. For acute injuries (recent onset, less than 3-6 months), patients often achieve significant improvement or complete resolution with 3-5 injection sessions spaced 2-3 weeks apart—the tissues haven't been damaged long and respond quickly to regenerative stimulus. Chronic conditions that have persisted for years typically require more treatments, often 6-10 sessions, as tissues need more regenerative stimulus to overcome longstanding damage and establish new structural integrity. Osteoarthritis usually responds well to 4-8 prolozone injections, with some patients achieving lasting relief while others benefit from occasional maintenance injections every 6-12 months to sustain cartilage health. Ligament injuries and joint instability generally need 4-6 prolotherapy treatments to sufficiently strengthen tissues and restore stability. PRP therapy for severe injuries might require only 1-3 treatments due to its more potent regenerative effects, though results develop more slowly. Dr. Wilson monitors your progress at each treatment session, evaluating pain reduction, functional improvements, and physical examination findings to determine whether additional injections are warranted or if you've achieved sufficient healing. He adjusts treatment frequency and formulas based on your response—if improvement stalls, he might extend intervals between treatments to allow more tissue remodeling time, add nutritional support to enhance healing capacity, or modify injection formulas to provide different regenerative stimulus. This responsive, individualized approach ensures you receive exactly what your body needs without unnecessary treatments—reflecting our integrity-first philosophy where recommendations are driven by your healing outcomes rather than maximizing billable procedures. During your initial consultation, Dr. Wilson provides estimated treatment numbers and costs based on similar cases he's treated successfully, giving you realistic expectations while acknowledging individual variability in healing response.

Regenerative injection therapy has helped numerous Valley Integrative Health patients avoid surgeries their orthopedic surgeons recommended, particularly for conditions like knee arthritis requiring total knee replacement, rotator cuff tears, meniscus tears, chronic low back pain from disc or ligament issues, and degenerative joint conditions throughout the body. Dr. Wilson's regenerative patients include many individuals who sought alternatives to surgery and achieved sufficient improvement through injection therapy that operations became unnecessary. The success of regenerative injections in avoiding surgery depends on your specific condition and damage severity—for partial tendon tears, moderate to severe arthritis, ligament injuries, chronic tendonitis, and structural instability, regenerative therapy often provides complete resolution or adequate improvement that surgery is no longer warranted. For complete tendon ruptures, severe bone-on-bone arthritis with massive cartilage loss, or mechanical joint problems like displaced meniscus tears causing locking, surgery may still be necessary though regenerative therapy can sometimes improve outcomes when used post-operatively to enhance healing. Dr. Wilson honestly evaluates your surgical candidacy during consultation—if he believes surgery is your best option, he'll tell you directly rather than offering false hope that injections will resolve a condition requiring operative repair. However, many orthopedic surgeons recommend surgery prematurely for conditions that respond excellently to regenerative treatment, particularly arthritis where surgeons offer joint replacement as the only solution when prolozone or PRP could restore function and eliminate pain naturally. The advantage of trying regenerative therapy first is minimal risk—unlike surgery with its complications, infection risks, lengthy recovery, and irreversible anatomical changes, regenerative injections offer the opportunity to heal conservatively with only minor temporary discomfort. If injections don't provide adequate improvement after a reasonable trial (typically 4-6 treatments over 3-4 months), you can still proceed with surgery having lost nothing but time, and you'll know you exhausted conservative options before committing to an operation. Many patients find regenerative therapy not only helps avoid surgery but provides better functional outcomes than friends or family members who underwent operations for similar conditions—returning to full activity without the limitations and complications sometimes accompanying surgical interventions. At Valley Integrative Health, Dr. Wilson partners with excellent orthopedic surgeons in Southern Oregon for patients who do need surgical care, ensuring you receive appropriate referrals when necessary while maximizing opportunities for natural healing through expert regenerative medicine.

While regenerative injection therapy is remarkably safe and effective for most musculoskeletal conditions, certain situations and medical factors may make treatment inappropriate or require special considerations—which is why Dr. Wilson conducts thorough evaluation before recommending injections. Regenerative therapy generally isn't appropriate for acute infections near proposed injection sites (must resolve infection first), active cancer in or near treatment areas (though patients in remission can usually receive treatment), bleeding disorders or blood clotting dysfunction without clearance from your hematologist, severe immunocompromise from medications or conditions affecting healing capacity, and pregnancy (especially PRP due to unknown effects, though prolotherapy and prolozone are likely safe). Additionally, certain conditions won't respond well to regenerative injections because pain stems from causes other than structural tissue damage—nerve compression requiring decompression (though injections might help associated ligament laxity), systemic inflammatory arthritis in active flare (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis) needing immune modulation before local treatment, mechanical joint problems like severely displaced meniscus tears causing locking, and pain from metabolic or neurological conditions rather than structural injury. Factors that can impair healing response and might require optimization before or during injection therapy include poorly controlled diabetes (blood sugar over 200 mg/dL impairs healing), severe nutritional deficiencies especially vitamin D, vitamin C, and protein, smoking (constricts blood vessels and impairs healing significantly), and certain medications like chronic high-dose NSAIDs or immunosuppressants. At Valley Integrative Health, Dr. Wilson evaluates these factors during your initial consultation, ordering lab testing if needed to assess nutritional status, blood sugar control, or inflammatory markers that affect healing. If he identifies healing obstacles, he'll recommend addressing them before starting injection therapy or concurrent with treatment to optimize results—this comprehensive approach reflects his naturopathic and conventional medical training that addresses the whole person rather than just injecting tissue and hoping for improvement. Dr. Wilson's honest assessment means you'll never receive regenerative therapy unless it's genuinely appropriate for your situation—if your condition isn't suitable, he'll explain why clearly and recommend better alternatives, whether that's physical therapy, nutritional interventions, other natural treatments, or referral for surgical consultation. This integrity-first approach ensures your time and money are invested wisely in treatments that actually serve your healing, reflecting Valley Integrative Health's patient-first philosophy and transparent communication that sets us apart from practices focused on maximizing treatment revenue regardless of clinical appropriateness.

Regenerative medicine strengthens and repairs tissues by stimulating your body’s natural inflammatory healing cascade, rather than shutting it down with steroids.

1. Precise injection into injured ligaments, tendons, or joints

2. Controlled inflammation attracts fibroblasts, stem cells, and growth factors

3. Collagen synthesis & tissue remodeling rebuilds stability

4. Progressive improvement over weeks to months

Unlike cortisone—which can weaken connective tissue and accelerate cartilage loss—regenerative injections build long-term strength, stability, and resilience.

Unmatched Expertise

Dr. Wilson’s background includes:

• Specialized regenerative medicine training
• Stem cell therapy experience in San Francisco
• Certified in Prolozone therapy for over a decade
• Training under Johns Hopkins and Yale-trained physician

Integrity & Honest Assessment

If regenerative injections aren’t appropriate, Dr. Wilson will tell you—no sales pressure, no unnecessary treatments.

Transparent, Affordable Pricing

• Valley Integrative Health offers regenerative injection therapy at competitive prices
• No insurance markups or surprise billing

You’ll always understand your full treatment plan and financial investment upfront.