 There's a new treatment available to those who suffer from joint injuries or diseases such as arthritis or tennis elbow and the unique part is that it uses your own cells. Clayton Castle has that story tonight. Have you ever suffered a sports injury like tennis elbow or golfer elbow? Do you have arthritis? Well there may be a new treatment option for your pain using your own cells. So regenerative medicine is a newer area of medicine, understanding how people get injured and how the body heals itself. So regenerative medicine is a branch of medicine that takes knowledge and understanding of how our bodies heal to help it heal more efficiently. Dr. Nancy Henry-Socha is a pain management doctor at the Ascension Health Brainerd Clinic and recently presented at the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians Regenerative Medicine Conference. The regenerative medicine process uses platelet-rich plasma or PRP to help activate the healing processes in your body naturally so that you can heal faster and better. For mild to moderate arthritis in a knee, it's superior to a steroid injection in terms of pain relief and how long someone gets pain relief. The treatment can also be used in sports injuries such as tennis elbow and golfer elbow. As for how it works, your blood is taken and put into a tube, which is then placed in a centrifuge that separates your blood by red and white blood cells as well as the PRP and other growth factors in the blood which help your body heal. Finally, the PRP is injected into the joint or area using ultrasound guidance to pinpoint the place of injection. Then, the waiting begins. Dr. Nancy Henry-It's not an immediate treatment, it's something that does take time because it's a treatment that helps the body jumpstart the healing process so you get more effective healing. Dr. Henry-Now doctors say that if you do go the regenerative medicine route, it usually takes about two to three months to kick in. Reporting from Brainerd, Clayton Castle, Lakeland News. Dr. Henry Sochers says that while this treatment is still considered new in developing, there has been evidence of positive effectiveness in those who have sought this treatment. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.