Enhance Healing & Speed Recovery with Our Post-Surgery Weekly Protocol

I have worn many hats during my career in medicine, from orthopedic surgeon to regenerative medicine doctor, and I believe that regenerative medicine techniques can help almost any medical condition – especially surgical recovery.

While many hospitals and facilities have Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) programs to deal with patients after a procedure, they typically follow standardized pathways for each phase of care (before, during and after surgery). The good news is that research has shown that by following an ERAS program, patients see a decrease in the time it takes to recover and at the same time reduce complications. The better news is that with a tailored, regenerative medicine protocol, we can take that recovery to the next level.

With this in mind, I am excited to announce that we now offer custom ERAS programs for non-regenerative medicine patients at our new state-of-the-art facility.

These cutting-edge protocols aid patients recovering from a variety of surgical procedures following the basic tenets of regenerative medicine, including these 7 positive health benefits to assist healing:

• Increased blood flow
• Encouragement of body tissue regeneration
• Decreased inflammation
• Stem cell mobilization
• Improved infection fighting
• Killing of anaerobic bacteria
• Enhanced ability to heal

To be clear, we are not trying to substitute for a necessary surgery, rather, we aim to enhance a procedure’s effects (or speed up the healing). Furthermore, we will work in unison with a patient’s treating physician’s office. It is important everyone is on the same page when it comes to a patient’s recovery.

With this in mind, here is a sample post-surgery recovery protocol week:

(NOTE: This can be followed for two, four or as many weeks as necessary to promote recovery.)

3-5 Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBOT) Therapy Sessions Post-Surgery

The benefits of HBOT therapy are many, but a very important aspect in terms of recovery is that it will increase stem cell output from the bone marrow and into one’s circulation. Remember, “cells, not doctors, heal patients”.

This is one of the main tenets we have here at PUR-FORM. When all is said and done, regardless of what type of surgery has been performed, your cells have to do the ultimate healing.

In our office we utilize the Sechrist hard shell hyperbaric chambers, which are considered the best of the best. The number of sessions a patient will need depends on the goals and the condition of the patient.

Most patients will probably receive significant benefits from three-to-five HBOT  treatments. Ideally, these sessions should be done both pre- and post-operative.

OPTIONAL ADD-ON: Intermittent Hypoxia Therapy (IHT) Following HBOT

To complement our HB0T sessions we also recommend intermittent hypoxia treatments for pre- and post-operative benefits.

IHT stimulates a variety of pathways in a very beneficial way. Perhaps the best way to think about IHT is to picture an elite athlete training at altitude. By doing this, the athlete supports optimum blood flow, prevents degeneration of tissues and organs and encourages growth and development of nervous tissue, among other positive outcomes for the body.

IHT and HBOT complement each other very well, and we recommend doing them both pre and post operatively on the same day. In fact, we are one of the few treatment centers in the United States that offers both modalities under one roof!

3 Red Light Therapy Sessions

Another weapon we have to enhance post op recovery is red light therapy using a LightStim® bed. The bed houses 18,240 therapeutic, glowing LED lights, which utilize red (630 and 660 nm) and infrared light wavelengths (885 and 940 nm). This is the first bed of its kind to be FDA-cleared for therapeutic use.

The LightStim® bed is responsible for the principle of photo-bio-modulation, which has a wide range of effects at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels. All of these are important for healing. We should also keep in mind that light therapy, especially red light therapy, has a profound positive effect on the mitochondria, which are the powerhouses of the cell.  

What this means to the layperson is that light will make ATP, which is the body’s energy currency, while at the same time it helps produce transcription factors which affect genes, giving them directions to produce a variety of beneficial compounds. These compounds include proteins like collagen, which can contribute to healing.

Other benefits include the production of nitric oxide, which acts as a vasodilator and increases blood supply.

OPTIONAL ADD-ON Infrared Sauna w/ Red Light Therapy

To complement the LightStim® bed we also recommend the Sunlighten® Sauna, which offers a vast array of infrared light and its accompanying benefits to encourage deeper wound healing.

Spending time in an infrared sauna can also help fight inflammation in the body, which is an enemy of healing.  

FIGHT INFLAMMATION: EB02 Therapy

For those unfamiliar, EBO2 stands for Extracorporeal Blood Oxygenation and Ozonation. This seems like a complicated phrase, but if we break it down we get an idea of what it really means: Extracorporeal means “outside of the body”, oxygenation means “putting oxygen into an area”, and ozonation means “adding ozone to an area”.

EBO2 is a modern, high-volume blood filter device, which uses integrated diffusing membranes within the filter fibers to trap lipids and proteins, which are in excess in the venous blood supply.

This technology seems to help patients decrease inflammation, increase NAD, boost immunity and help eliminate toxins and free radicals in the body. Certainly, EBO2 can be used both pre and post operatively. If given a choice it might be more important for EBO2 to be performed pre-operatively, because the circulatory system is the super-highway of the immune system.      

ADDITIONAL HEALING: 1-3 Whole Body Cryotherapy Sessions

Some individuals may also benefit from treatment with whole body cryotherapy, which is by far our quickest treatment.

Typically, one needs to spend only three minutes in our cryochamber to reap the benefits of this sub-zero treatment, which includes increasing growth factors, improved healing and increased blood flow: all important factors for the body before and after surgery.

IMMUNITY & HEALING BOOST: IV Therapies

We offer patients a wide variety of IV therapies that can target everything from increasing your energy or brain function to even helping you overcome jet lag.

There is good evidence that many of these IV regimens can increase surgery recovery by supplying the necessary components needed for wound healing as well.

These IVs can range from immunity boosters to compounds designed to increase the efficiency of the mitochondria.  

Certainly, the IV therapies can be performed preoperatively but we will do these only if they are in line with the treating physician’s plan. The reason for this is that some supplements either orally or intravenously can increase the amount of surgical bleeding and we feel this should be the decision of the treating surgeon.

Postoperatively is another story. A few days after surgery most IV mixtures are well-tolerated by patients. More importantly, there is strong evidence some of these IV mixtures can enhance healing.

How Can You Be Proactive?

Being proactive before a surgical procedure can often make a big difference in terms of recovery and outcome. All of these techniques I’ve mentioned can be complementary to each other. They are based on hard science.  

If you’d like to learn more about any of these techniques, please CLICK HERE to set up a one-on-one phone call with us.

As an added bonus, many of these modalities can have long-lasting benefits outside of surgical recovery, such as a decrease in overall inflammation and improved general well being.  

We are also more than happy to tailor a specific treatment plan to suit your needs.

Thanks!

– Dr. P

Joseph Purita, MD