Patient Story
Pain-Free Without a Hip Replacement
Summary
Michael, a construction worker and father of three, was told he needed a new hip. He chose PRP at Med Matrix instead and says he has been pain-free since about six months in. Before that he could not walk without pain, felt like the hip was going to pop out, could not do stairs, and says a day carrying a child around the fair meant about three weeks of babying his hip. He was told he broke his hip, that the socket was egged out, that the cushion on top of the femur was torn, and that any surgical repair would immediately tear again. He had learned about PRP from a hand surgeon who operated on him when he was young, found Med Matrix through what he thinks was a Facebook ad, and came in with what he describes as a more invasive treatment in mind before the team suggested starting with PRP. About ten months in, he says he has not had a PRP shot in his hip in about three months, can do everything now, and the shoulder is next.
Before Med Matrix
- Has worked construction his whole life and is a dad with three kids
- A torn something in his hip, in his words, plus shoulder pain: debilitating, could not walk without pain, felt like the hip was going to pop out, and it was seriously affecting his ability to be active with his children and to work
- Stairs were impossible, and carrying his son or daughter around the fair all day on his shoulder meant about three weeks of babying his hip before he could remotely walk again
- Lived with a list of don'ts (don't move this way, don't carry this) and had to plan everything around the injury, down to being conscious of how he walked
- Was told he broke his hip, that the socket is egged out, that the cushion on top of the femur is torn, and that a surgical repair of that cushion would just tear again because everything is at the wrong angle
- Told he needed a new hip
- Says his primary care provider, a man, does not want to hear about guy stuff, and that saying certain things in a normal doctor's office gets you looked at like you are kind of crazy
- Already knew about PRP as an alternative to surgery from a hand surgeon who operated on him when he was young; he would have gone to that surgeon's practice, but the surgeon had retired
Results
- Says he has been pain-free since about 6 months in ("pain-free literally", in his words); about 10 months in at the time of filming
- Says he has not had a PRP shot in his hip in about 3 months
- Says he can do everything now, walks without having to be conscious of how he is walking, and no longer plans everything around an injury or factors in how not to hurt himself more
- Says PRP was Plan A and the hip replacement is still there as Plan B if PRP ever fails, and that Plan A seems to be working. Says that if he had listened to the doctor he would be one surgery down and on his way to a number of hip replacements over his life, with PRP no longer an option
- Describes the PRP as unreal
- Says the money spent here was not the most cost-effective thing by any means, and that the rewards have been priceless; would do it over and over, for the rest of his life
Key Quotes
“I mean, if I would go to the fair and carry my son or my daughter around all day on my shoulder, that That be like 3 weeks of babying my hip before I could like remotely walk again. I mean stairs, impossible.”
“What's also kind of crazy is that if I had just listened to the doctor, I'd be one surgery down. I'd have a hip replacement in there. You know, we'd be on our way to a number of hip replacements throughout my life because they only last for so long and PRP would no longer be an option.”
“You can live pain-free without drugs and without surgery, and I don't know what more you can really ask for.”
“And you know, this is not the most cost-effective thing by any means, but the rewards from the money that I've spent here is just literally priceless.”
Treatments
Conditions
Related Services
Full Transcript
ShowHide
There's a gentleman that did surgery on this hand when I was pretty young. His name was Dr. Herzog. I kind of refer to him as the godfather of stem cells. Okay. [laughter] That's pretty cool. Yeah. Uh he taught me about stem cells and PRP and alternative medicine. There are alternatives rather than surgery. Okay. So, that led me to looking for a place to go once I kind of started having pain. In your hand? No, I didn't have pain in my hand. I just met him through that through that surgery. He rebuilt my hand and then I stayed in contact with him over the years. Yeah. Okay. So, where how did you find us specifically at MedMatrix? I think it was just Facebook ads. Honestly, I would have gone to his practice, but he retired before. Okay. Yeah. So, that's what happened. So, what were some of the challenges that you were facing? Like you said pain. Can you elaborate on that? Yeah. So, my whole life I've worked construction. Um and then also I'm a dad. So, I have three kids. Shoulder pain. I got a torn something in my hip. Debilitating. Like could not walk. Could not walk without pain. Would feel like my hip was going to pop out. Seriously impacting being able to be active with my children and being able to work. Definitely It's just kind of unbelievable. You know, you do the PRP. I have been pain-free literally and like I can do everything now. I mean, I was living my life pretty handicapped. Like don't move this way. Don't do that. Don't sleep like this. Don't carry this. I mean, if I would go to the fair and carry my son or my daughter around all day on my shoulder, that That be like 3 weeks of babying my hip before I could like remotely walk again. I mean stairs, impossible. They told me that I broke my hip and that I have basically like an egged out hip socket and then there's a cushion, if you will, on top of your, I think it's femur, and that's torn. And they said that no matter what you do, if they were to do surgery, put a new one in there, this that and the other, do surgery and repair that cushion, that it would just immediately tear again because everything's at the wrong angle and it's all egged out. And they said that I need a new hip. Wow. Yeah. So, that led you here and then we're going to go more into like you starting the PRP and things like that, but first let's start with your first interaction post that ad. So, first you got that discovery call, do you remember anything about the discovery call? The discovery call, I mean I got the ad. I was looking for a place to go to do PRP. You don't have to remember it. Some people really have like a moment where they're like on this call where they're like, oh, I remember this very clearly and some people are like I knew what I was looking for, you know? So Yeah, no, I mean I knew what I was looking for. I mean the call was good. Um it was helpful, they explained everything. You know, it got me through the door, I know that. [laughter] Okay. You know, here I am. I don't know. What is it? Probably 10 months later, you know, but that's been, you know, pain free uh after 6 months. Yeah. I mean I haven't done a PRP shot in my hip in probably 3 months. Wow. You know what I mean? And now we're going to fix my shoulder. So, yeah. So, what about that initial lab draw? Like your first interaction with their team, just like customer service-wise? Yeah, no, All that was great, you know, comfortable, felt safe. Everything seems clean. You guys are very nice. Have you done an InBody before? Yeah, I've done the InBody. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you stand on it, it tells you what's going on in your body. Okay. [laughter] So, what about the initial provider visit? When you first were going into your visit, is there anything that you knew you were going to ask for? Is there anything that kind of stood out to you? I mean, I think that there there was like a lot of uh men's health, you know, that was, you know, talked about and explained, which you just don't really get at, you know, it's like you go to the doctor and the guy's uh a guy. And you think that he'd be a little bit more um relatable or, you know, like understanding that you have kids and you do this, that, and the other thing, but it's like if you say certain things in your normal doctor's office, they just look at you like you're kind of crazy, you [clears throat] they're like, we can we can talk about that, and we can fix that, you know? Yeah. So, starting the PRP, [clears throat] um can you explain that process of like, did you know that you wanted to do PRP when you came here? Yeah, I definitely knew I wanted to do PRP. I mean, I thought I wanted to do stem cells, to be completely honest. And um I think that was a little bit more invasive, and it was like, let's start here and see if we need to end up there. And you guys were right, you know? I mean, pretty much, the PRP is just it's unreal. It's kind of a game changer. Yeah. You talked a bit about like things you can do now. Do you want to go like more into depth with that? I can do anything now, you know? No, it's like uh not like you couldn't walk, but you couldn't walk pain-free, and you had to walk different, and as you walk you have to be conscious of how you're walking and you just you literally have to plan like everything around an injury if you're if you're injured. And now you just don't have to do that. You know, you can just you're just back to being able to do what you need to do without factoring in how you're not going to hurt yourself more. Okay. That's awesome. It's really interesting too because like you think that like you're young. You shouldn't be living in pain. Right. kind of crazy that you were. Right. Right. What's also kind of crazy is that if I had just listened to the doctor, I'd be one surgery down. I'd have a hip replacement in there. You know, we'd be on our way to a number of hip replacements throughout my life because they only last for so long and PRP would no longer be an option. Yeah. You know, that's what's really crazy. So. That is really crazy. So, what about functional medicine in general? You said that um the godfather [clears throat] of stem cells you kind of learned about that there. But what if you had a friend who was like, I don't know anything about functional medicine, what would you tell them? I would tell them that you should do your own research and there are other ways of healing which aren't talked about basically by mainstream for-profit companies with a certain type of agenda. Okay. That's that's what I think is the truth. And what about somebody who is like kind of on the edge of seeing about it, what would you tell them? If you're in a position where, you know, the options are like you could go under the knife. I mean, that that's where I was, you know? So, my options were okay, I can do a hip replacement or I can try PRP. If I tried PRP and PRP fails, I can still always do that hip replacement. If I had done the hip replacement and, you know, that fails, then we go to do another hip replacement, PRP's just not an option. Me, I like all options available. I like to go through the motions and, you know, this was plan A and that could be [clears throat] plan B. Plan A seems to be working. Okay. Awesome. And that's all my questions. So, do you have anything else? Yeah, I mean, I just, you know, to to grow up in the, you know, blue-collar industry and just watch a bunch of guys go through serious amounts of physical pain, like my dad, all growing up, knee pain, shoulder pain, back pain, just all the above. Different technology, different time, you know, to to watch that and now have different options available to you, it's ridiculous that, you know, I mean, yes, there's like money that stands in the way. This is a a serious investment into your own well-being, you know? You can live pain-free without drugs and without surgery, and I don't know what more you can really ask for. That was cinematic. Truly, that was really I mean, that's the truth, though. Awesome. It is the truth, yeah. It's very eloquently said. 100%, you know? So. You're not our normal demographic, right? Like we have a lot of people from a lot of different age ranges come here, but localized, it's like two like 40, 50-year-olds, right? So, like our demographic is like kind of getting into the treatment many, is kind of getting into all that. So, I think it's really interesting that you were like very proactive in it, and you met the right person. So. Yeah, I mean, you I kind of am super not anti-establishment, but like, you know, how the establishment has an agenda. Yeah. You know what I mean? And if you just look at society as a whole, like is, you know, society healthy? You know? Like doing what their doctors are saying or like when people are really sick and they go to the doctor, how many really get healed? Or how many get help? You know what I mean? Um Cuz you're And it's minimal. I don't want to talk about that. I still got to go there. A Dr. Roe. And Dr. Dr. Dr. Yeah, yeah, no. She's great. Um you know, like my primary care provider, uh that's a guy. You think you'd be able to go in there and talk about guy stuff more with him than you can with Dr. Rose and you know, that's probably how it should be, but even if, you know, they just don't even want to hear it. It's ridiculous, you know? It's unfortunate, too. [clears throat] Dr. Rose and um Colin they talk a lot about how they can't There's nothing they can do. The second you start talking about it, they're like, "Oh, like we have to shut this conversation down because insurance, pharmaceutical, it's like we can't cover that." And also we have such a limited time in our visit because of insurance constraints. So it's not even really their fault, which is really unfortunate that they have to like change the way that they practice in order to fit into those molds. But yeah, so. Like I've I've spent a lot of money in my life and I've wasted a lot of money in my life. And you know, this is not the most cost-effective thing by any means, but the rewards from the money that I've spent here is just literally priceless. You know? I don't know how else to put it. I mean, I would recommend this and I would do this over and over. I'll do this for the rest of my life. Awesome. All right. Well, thank you.
Want to read what other patients wrote? More Med Matrix patient reviews, on our official reviews page.
