There is no single regenerative medicine procedure. There is a family of related approaches that use different material, placed at different depths, for different reasons.
Which one fits depends on what is happening structurally, what you have already tried, and what your imaging shows. That last part matters most. Nearly every path here begins with someone looking at your scans rather than selling you a procedure.
Connective tissue heals slowly for a structural reason. Injure a muscle and it usually recovers well, because muscle has an excellent blood supply. Your joints, ligaments, and tendons do not — and the healing response can stall partway through.
Different tissue sits at different depths, and each approach is designed to reach a particular layer. Every card below carries this gauge.
Subcutaneous
Just beneath the skin
Ligament Attachment
Where ligament meets bone
Tendon Body
Within the tendon itself
Joint Space
Inside the joint capsule
Bone Marrow
Deepest — harvest site
Most people come here for this. Each approach below places biologically active material directly into hard-to-reach connective tissue, with the aim of restarting a repair process that has stalled.
Your own platelets, processed further than most clinics take them.
Standard PRP concentrates platelets and stops there. This practice adds timed activation, filtration to remove cellular debris, and concentration of beneficial plasma proteins including alpha-2 macroglobulin.
A consistent signal that doesn’t depend on your age.
A concentrated matrix of over 300 verifiable cytokines, growth factors, and signaling proteins from ethically sourced placental and umbilical cord tissue. Entirely acellular — all living cells and DNA are removed in processing.
Your own stem cells, from bone marrow or fat.
Mesenchymal stem cells drawn either from bone marrow by in-office aspiration under ultrasound guidance, or from adipose tissue using a modified liposuction technique with micro-filtration, then concentrated and placed precisely.
Donor tissue, with no collection step.
Umbilical cord tissue — the Wharton’s jelly portion — from donated live, healthy C-section births in the United States, processed in an FDA-registered, CGMP-certified laboratory and screened to accredited tissue bank standards.
For calcific tendinitis, most often in the shoulder.
Under ultrasound guidance, Dr. Lawinski locates the calcium deposit on screen and breaks it into pieces small enough for your body to absorb. If it is soft enough, the area is flushed with saline and the fluid drawn back out.
Musculoskeletal structures are densely supplied with nerve tissue, which is part of why pain can persist long after the original injury has settled. Pain that responds poorly to anti-inflammatories or cortisone is often neurogenic, originating in the nerve cells themselves.
When rest and time were not enough.
Acute back pain often settles with two to four weeks of rest. Pain lasting beyond three months may not resolve without help. Several approaches used here are applied to the spine, chosen according to what imaging shows and what has already been tried.
Shallow injections along the path of the nerve.
Also called Neural Prolotherapy or the Lyftogt technique. A mildly alkaline solution of 5% dextrose or mannitol is placed just beneath the skin along affected nerves, using very small, short needles. Because the injections never enter a joint, most people tolerate them without local anesthetic.
Named for proliferation — the oldest approach here.
A high-concentration dextrose solution with added vitamins is placed at specific ligament and tendon attachment points, creating a mild controlled irritation that raises local blood flow and nutrient delivery. Dr. Lawinski trained in the Prolozone variation with Dr. Frank Shallenberger in 2013.
The same principles, applied to skin and scalp.
Platelet-rich plasma drawn from your own blood can be placed beneath the skin. Umbilical allograft material is applied topically through microneedling, which opens fine channels in the skin surface so the material can reach the layers below.
A physician appointment, not a walk-in clinic.
Most men who ask about this have already tried medication. The first appointment is a clinical conversation about whether an orthobiologic approach makes sense in your situation, using platelet-rich plasma prepared from your own blood. Nothing is scheduled the same day.
Time built into the appointment, so nothing is rushed.
This is the part of the practice people are least likely to raise first. Appointments are scheduled with extra time so questions are answered rather than deferred, and either platelet-rich plasma or donor-derived allograft material may be discussed depending on your circumstances.
| Approach | Material | Collection step | Typical course |
|---|---|---|---|
| Next-Generation PRP | Your own blood, activated and filtered | Yes — same visit | Often 1; sometimes 2–3 |
| Regenerative Protein Array | Acellular donor protein matrix | None | Varies |
| Autologous Allograft | Your own bone marrow or adipose tissue | Yes — separate step | Varies |
| Allogeneic Allograft | Donor umbilical cord tissue | None | Varies |
| Barbotage | Saline flush — no biologic material | None | Single, about 30 min |
| Perineural Injection | 5% dextrose or mannitol | None | 5–8, spaced 1–2 weeks |
| Prolotherapy & Prolozone | High-concentration dextrose | None | Series of about 4 |
Course length varies considerably between patients and between situations. Individual results vary, and no outcome can be guaranteed.
PRIMARY CLINIC
15-3039 Pahoa Village Road, at the Vitality Integrative Medicine Clinic. About 45 minutes southeast of Hilo Airport.
SATELLITE
Downtown Kailua-Kona.
SATELLITE
Serving patients travelling from across Maui County.
How do I know if I’m a candidate?
Send your existing imaging and radiology reports for a free review, or book an initial evaluation. Not everyone is a good candidate, and it is better for everyone that this is settled before anything is scheduled.
What does the initial evaluation cost?
$150. It runs up to an hour, includes a written treatment plan and cost estimate, and is credited toward the cost of your first treatment.
Does insurance cover this?
At this time, insurance does not cover the professional services offered here.
How long does a treatment take?
From thirty minutes up to several hours, depending on the approach and the situation being addressed.
How should I prepare?
Preparation varies by approach. Some call for fasting up to six hours beforehand; others require no fasting at all. In all cases, avoid platelet-inhibiting medications, including NSAIDs, for at least two weeks before a procedure and at least four weeks afterward.
How many treatments will I need?
Orthobiologic approaches generally require fewer — sometimes one, sometimes two or three. Prolotherapy and prolozone average a series of about four. Perineural injection usually runs 5–8 treatments spaced one to two weeks apart.
How soon would I notice a change?
Because the intent is to engage your own healing response rather than suppress a symptom, changes generally develop over months rather than days. The body continues remodeling for up to six months after a full course, which is when candidacy for any further series is typically reassessed.
Is ultrasound guidance used every time?
Not for every approach — perineural injections are superficial by design. For joint, tendon, and ligament work, ultrasound guidance is how placement precision is achieved and verified.
Where do you see patients?
The primary clinic is in Pahoa, with satellite clinics in Kailua-Kona and on Maui.