At the age of 28, Kent Rookstool, a doctor of chiropractic, was suffering from debilitating back pain. It was so bad that he could hardly walk. He tried everything – chiropractic adjustments, heat, ice, massage, acupuncture, pain medication and even surgery. Nothing helped. He was depressed and felt hopeless.
He then heard about regenerative medicine, and it changed his life. Today, he’s able to practice the career he loves, be an active partner to wife, Angie, and be an involved dad with their 3-year-old daughter.
Dr. Kent knew other people were going through the same experience, and he wanted to help them get their lives back too. In 2022, he founded Advanced Pain Solutions in Redmond.
“When people hurt really badly or can't do what they want, it leads to great depression,” he says. “It's scary thinking that your life is going to be like that forever.”
When patients come in, he finds out what their goals are and then works with them to meet those goals. “We don't just want to fix their pain or cover up their pain with medications; we want to actually give them the ability to live the life they want,” explains Dr. Kent.
What makes Advanced Pain Solutions really stand out is its comprehensive approach. “Chiropractic is amazing by itself, physiotherapy is amazing by itself, and regenerative medicine is amazing by itself, but when you put all three together, it's just so much better,” Dr. Kent states.
So how does regenerative medicine work? “There are cells inside our bodies that help us heal, and these cells are really prevalent when we’re a newborn because they're helping grow a human body,” he says. “But, by the time we’re 18, we only have 40% of those cells, and by the time we’re 60, we only have 5% of those cells. That's part of the reason why things start breaking down.”
These special cells can be found in umbilical cords, which parents can donate after a healthy, full-term birth. “It goes to an FDA accredited lab where it's screened and tested to make sure it's safe,” notes Dr. Kent. “We then inject it into the person where they have an injury and it helps them heal at a rate that they couldn't heal before. It's also one of the safest treatments one can have and has very few side effects.”
While these cells go to work healing the joint or other injured area, sometimes an additional step is needed. For example, when it's a chronic condition that was caused by improper mechanics, that also must be addressed. This is where the comprehensive approach comes in.
“An easy analogy is a car that is out of alignment and because of that, its tires wear out,” he says. “Regenerative medicine is like getting new tires without getting an alignment, so the tire is going to wear out again, but if you correct the mechanics of the alignment as well, through chiropractic treatments, you get a true fix.”
Advanced Pain Solutions treats many patients with chronic pain. “We sometimes get complacent and feel like we're supposed to just live with the pain, but we don't have to,” remarks Dr. Kent. “There are things that can be done.”
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“Chiropractic is amazing by itself, physiotherapy is amazing by itself, and regenerative medicine is amazing by itself, but when you put all three together, it's just so much better.”
—Dr. Kent Rookstool