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Non-Surgical Relief For Shoulder Pain In Waterloo, IA

3630 W. 4th Street Waterloo, IA 50703

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Patient FAQs

The shoulder joint is the most mobile joint in your body. But this mobility comes at a price. The body’s constant struggle to keep the joint stable can cause problems when there’s an injury or degenerative disease.

Most patients considering surgery for a shoulder injury, degenerative condition, or osteoarthritis are looking for pain relief. However, research shows that shoulder surgery isn’t all that effective for many patients.1 While your shoulder MRI could indicate a tear or degeneration, it may not be the cause of pain.2

Regenexx Alternative to Shoulder Surgery

Various types of shoulder injuries may benefit from Regenexx procedures. However, the injuries most often seen by Regenexx physicians are:

3630 W. 4th Street
Waterloo, IA 50703

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Doctors

Dr. Ashar Afzal practices Interventional Pain Medicine with UnityPoint Health in Waterloo, Iowa. He graduated from Allama Iqbal Medical College/Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan. He completed his residency at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA for Anesthesiology. Dr. Afzal completed Pain Medicine fellowship at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA. In 2005, Dr. Afzal became American Board Certified in Anesthesiology/Pain Medicine. In 2021, he received specialized training at Centeno-Schultz Clinic in Denver, Colorado for procedures using Regenexx injectates.

Dr. Afzal has interest in Chronic Pain Management, Regional Anesthesia, Perioperative Pain Management and has a special interest in Regenerative Medicine, which includes the use of biologics such as Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), Super Concentrated Plasma (SCP), and bone marrow concentrate which contains stem cells to treat acute and chronic conditions and arthritis. In 2021, Dr. Afzal started to include Regenerative Medicine into his Interventional Pain Medicine Practice and was the first physician in Waterloo, Iowa. Dr. Afzal’s staff also received specialized training at Centeno-Schultz Clinic in Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Afzal lives in the Cedar Valley with his family. He enjoys spending time with his family, golfing, swimming, and squash.

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Areas Treated

Cervical Spine (Not Upper Cervical or CCI)*, Elbow, Foot & Ankle, Hand & Wrist, Hip, Knee, Lumbar Spine, Shoulder, Thoracic Spine

*This provider is NOT authorized by Regenexx to treat the C0-C1 or C1-C2 levels of the neck or CCI (craniocervical instability).

Woman in telemedicine consult with physician to see if she's a candidate for Regenexx for knee osteoarthritis.

Can I Avoid Shoulder Surgery?

In many cases the answer is yes. Regenexx has alternatives to shoulder surgery that help your body use its healing abilities to treat pain and promote a more speedy recovery.

Am I a candidate?

Regenexx procedures are non-surgical alternatives that use precise image-guided injections of your body’s own natural healing agents to treat shoulder injuries. These procedures utilize either platelet-rich plasma or your own bone marrow concentrate (contains stem cells) to help you avoid shoulder surgery. Once you’ve been evaluated, your physician will customize a treatment plan based on your specific needs.

Take a look at the outcomes of two of our patients who chose to have a Regenexx procedure instead of surgery.

Scroll the arrow to the right to see the MRI of the rotator cuff before the treatment and to the left to see the outcome. The BEFORE shows a torn rotator cuff. The arrow points at a gap where the tendon should be. Once treated, the area will look like a dark band going diagonally, as seen on the AFTER.

Patient 1 MRI

Patient 2 MRI

Visual representation of regenerative medicine

Webinar: Alternatives to Shoulder Surgery

Learn the latest about interventional orthopedics, and how Regenexx procedures can treat your shoulder injury without surgery.

Register for the webinar

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Patient FAQs

The shoulder is a shallow ball-and-socket joint. The ball is called the humerus bone, and the socket is called the glenoid. The lip around the socket is called the labrum (Latin for “lip”), and its main job is to keep the shoulder ball inside its shallow socket. Ligaments and the rotator cuff also help keep the shoulder in place.

Shoulder instability occurs when tendons and ligaments get stretched, torn due to trauma, or simply worn out due to age and allow too much motion in the joint. This additional motion leads to arthritis as sections of the joint are exposed to more wear and tear, bone spurs as your body’s solution to “shoring up” an unstable joint, and tears and stretching of the ligaments as they deal with forces they’re not designed to withstand.3

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Please note our procedures are only covered by self-funded health plans at this time.

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What about health insurance or medical benefits? What may be covered or reimbursed depends on the details of your plan. Insurance typically covers evaluations and diagnostic testing (if recommended) but most do not cover Regenexx Procedures. Some Employer specific Regenexx Benefits plans do also cover Regenexx Procedures. Your plan’s representative can help verify your benefits, out-of-pocket costs, and coverage.

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