One Month Out Update #Regenexx – it's just a bad day, not a bad life!

So how am I doing one month post Regenexx procedure? (Interested in how the procedure went? Click here!)

I’m back to pretty much where I was pre-procedure, except I’m wearing my brace, I’m doing water therapy and I’m not fully back to doing yoga. My knee has been pretty stiff lately and it feels like it’s swollen, but it doesn’t look like it at all. (If that even makes any sense whatsoever?)

I really can’t complain. The pain or discomfort I do have is about the same as I did before the procedure. The doc said I wouldn’t really notice a big difference until about 3 months out – so I’m not worried.

I haven’t had any excess swelling, no signs of a flare of my psoriatic arthritis or complex regional pain syndrome. KNOCK ON WOOD everything seems to be going very well!

What have I been doing to help my recovery along?

1. Nutrition

Food can either be the most powerful medicine or the most poisonous drug! The past 2 months I became super strict with my diet (even more than I was before), because I started on supplements to help battle a bacteria overgrowth in my intestines that I believe is one of the culprits for my autoimmunity.

Omega’s – I wrote a post about chia seeds and salmon last week!
Fruits and Veggies – making sure I get lots and lots of them! Getting my nutrients from their plant source is always preferred.
Quality – I aim to eat the highest quality of food I can get. That means choosing organic over conventional aka GMO, it means picking the anti-biotic free, non GMO fed poultry meats, and wild pacific caught salmon – NO farmed fish.
Paleo – I mostly follow a Paleo diet, with the exception of the past 2 months when I’ve been avoiding all non-naturally occurring sugars (ie. coconut sugar, maple syrup, honey, etc). Steering clear of all those grains is extremely important now more than ever!
Supplements – Centeno Shultz recommends a supplement compound they sell to help your stem cells grow. Because I was basically taking the majority of the supplements already, I opted out from buying theirs and just bought the 1 or 2 other supplements that I needed. I take a decent amount of supplements everyday – to the point where my friend said the other day (while I was shoving them in my mouth by the handful) that if I wanted to kill myself there were other options available to me. I laughed because the funny thing is that everything I was taking was a supplement! Right now I’m taking the following to help target my stem cells!
- Curcumin (I take 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. I’ve found it to be remarkable for my arthritis. It takes about a month for it to get working in your body, but once it does you totally know it. I recommend it for everyone!)
- Glucosamine
- Vitamin C
- L-Carnosine
- Vitamin D3 + K2
- Resveratrol
- Fish Oil (I take 4 capsules of 1000mg 780 EPA/ 390 DHA/ 76 GLA everyday. It’s a lot, but without it my body doesn’t want to function properly! Plus, it helps with my blood clotting disorder.)

2. Therapy

When I left the clinic, I was given a very detailed schedule for therapy. But, because I’m special (in many different ways haha), I’ve extended the time line a bit. The reason I’ve done that is because I was on crutches 2 ½ years prior to the procedure. Most people walk into the office… Therefore, I can’t be expected to be jogging in the pool already!

Water Therapy

Water therapy is such an amazing thing. According to The Benefits of Aquatic Therapy to the Ageing Population,

Exercises done in water are considered a low-impact activity. The water’s natural buoyancy removes the stress and pressure off your muscles and joints, states the Mayo Clinic
Water provides a gentle way to exercise your joints, states the Arthritis Foundation. Exercises that caused too much joint stress on land can be done in water. Lowering your joint stress level will help lower your pain level. Aqua therapy helps release endorphins, a natural pain-killer.
Water’s natural buoyancy helps you do resistance exercises. On land, you would do resistance exercises by lifting or pushing weights, according to the National Institutes of Aging. Water provides resistance without the possibility of falling.
Aqua therapy in warm water can increase flexibility. On land, your joints may be too stiff and painful to move. Aqua therapy lessens your stiffness, decrease your pain level and make it easier to move your joints and improve your joint flexibility, according to the University of Washington Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. Warm water is used to help patients deal with arthritis.
Warm water therapy (WWT) allows patients to begin therapy as soon as they are immersed in the water, foregoing the need for lengthy “warm-up” sessions. Physical therapy in warm water environments becomes more efficient than physical therapy on land since there is less time spent in just getting comfortable. In warm water therapy, treatment can begin almost immediately.
Aquatic therapy also utilizes hydrostatic pressure to decrease swelling and improve joint position awareness. The hydrostatic pressure produces forces perpendicular to the body’s surface.
This pressure provides joint positional awareness to the patient. As a result, patient proprioception is improved. This is important for patients who have experienced joint sprains, as when ligaments are torn, our proprioception becomes decreased.
The hydrostatic pressure also assists in decreasing joint and soft tissue swelling
Lastly, the warmth of the water experience during aquatic therapy assists in relaxing muscles and vasodilates vessels, increasing blood flow to injured areas.

Personally, I love it because I get to exercise in a heated pool, with a little treadmill on the bottom, with a TV right in front of me. The place I go has amazing therapists too, so I always have a really enjoyable time when I go to therapy. I always leave pooped!

Therapy on My Own

I have a stim machine that I use once a day at home, with my home yoga practice I’ve targeted specific stretches that I do to help release my hammies, strengthen my quads and get my core in tip-top shape! When I left the clinic, I bought an infrared heating pad, which I use twice a day. I wish I could have it on all the time – it feels sooooooo good!

3. Essential Oils

Right after the procedure, I put a healing blend on my tiny incision and injection bruises. I would rub frankincense on my knee 2 or 3 times a day as well. Now that my incisions are completely fine, I’ve switched over to rolling some Immortelle on my knee at least twice a day. I also diffuse serenity or balance everyday to help keep my nerves calm and in check!

4. LifeForce Therapy Sessions

I did sessions right before I went out to Colorado to have the procedure done, but I’ve completed 5 session post-procedure as well. I started on green (for detoxing), did 2 sessions on lemon (for cleansing and stimulation – it’s supposed to be good for bone growth!) and finished up with blue and indigo (both target inflammation).

5. Positive Mentality

There are so many scientific studies that prove when you believe something is going to work, it will. Same goes for if you think something is NOT going to work. From day one, I’ve believed that this was going to work and I honestly have no doubt in my mind that it will. By keeping a positive attitude, by focusing on the amazing things I have going on in my life and by keeping a steady meditation/mindfulness practice – I’m able to keep my body in a calm and relaxed state. That way my body can focus on healing – not freaking out!

All of these things, I believe, are helping to make my recovery as smooth as possible.

What kinds of things do you do after a procedure to help you cope with the stress and anxiety of waiting to see if it works? Let me know and comment below!