Ryan Tannehill turns to stem cells in Cayman

Tackling sports injuries with regenerative medicine

George Town, Grand Cayman, December 11, 2018 – With an injury in the second quarter, Miami Dolphins’ quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, made a remarkable return in Sunday’s game against the Patriots. With only 7 seconds on the clock, Tannehill completed a pass that led to the “Miami Miracle” – but Tannehill’s history-making play isn’t his only miraculous comeback. Sidelined by injury in 2016, Tannehill returned to the field this season. After being on the injured list for 5 consecutive games, he returned to regular play and now leads the Dolphins in a late-season playoff push. 

In 2017, Tannehill travelled to Grand Cayman and opted for cryopreservation at Regenexx Cayman, where his stem cells were extracted, grown up to 1,000 times more than U.S. procedures, and stored for future use. Tannehill later received the advanced stem cell treatment, Regenexx-C.

“As an athlete, I’m always pushing my body to the limit, whether it’s in practice, training, or in games, and there’s always the possibility of injury,” says Tannehill. “Things are going to be hurting a little bit when I’m older; it’s just the nature of the business, so to have something available, to help heal from that, is huge. Whether it’s from an injury in practice, or I tweak something during the off-season, or in 20 years after my career is done…I have these cells banked in Grand Cayman and I’m able to use those in order to improve my quality of life and be able to enjoy the rest of my life.” https://youtu.be/J1WMMuot9eI

Stem cells are the body’s natural repairmen. Sometimes, due to injury or general wear-and-tear, the body cannot get enough of these critical repair cells to help restore function. In the world of professional sports, stem cell therapy is becoming more common. Athletes, such as Peyton Manning[1], Cristiano Ronaldo[2], and Rafael Nadal[3] have looked to treat their injuries using minimally-invasive regenerative procedures.

Stem cell cryopreservation, however, is the next step in proactive healthcare – allowing athletes to save their younger cells for future orthopedic use, when the inevitable aches, pains, and injuries of professional sports set in.

“A lot of athletes will play through their issues – they might have a nagging hamstring or achilles – but our goal is to treat problems proactively with orthobiologics, including culture-expanded stem cells,” says Dr. Centeno, Regenexx Founder and Physician. “Unfortunately, you can’t store cultured cells in the U.S., but at Regenexx Cayman, athletes can have their cells extracted, grown to much larger numbers, and cryopreserved at their current biological age. It’s a great way to get a little insurance against the fact that your cells, like the rest of you, are aging.”

The Cayman Islands are well-known for their excellent medical tourism facilities. Professional athletes, from around the world, have travelled to Regenexx Cayman for advanced treatment, so they can proactively treat issues, before they turn into bigger, potentially career-ending injuries.Cryopreservation and stem cell procedures help bridge the gap between physical therapy and surgery, so patients can heal naturally, with less downtime than invasive orthopedic surgeries.Looking for longevity, athletes are choosing stem cell storage to help prolong their career and improve quality of life after sport.

# # #

About Regenexx Cayman

Founded in 2011, Regenexx Cayman is an interventional orthopedic stem cell and blood platelet clinic – offering the most advanced, orthopedic stem cell treatment available in the world today. Licensed to practice culture-expanded stem cell treatment in the Cayman Islands, Regenexx Cayman has 13 visiting U.S. Board Certified physicians and is located in the heart of world-renowned, Seven Mile Beach.

Fact sheet: What makes Regenexx Different?

Expertise and training

• Regenexx physicians invented orthopedic stem cell treatments.
• Over 70,000 Regenexx procedures have been performed worldwide.
• Less than 1% of orthopedic surgeons in the United States are trained on the advanced imaging equipment utilized by Regenexx.

Advanced treatments

• Regenexx Cayman offers the most advanced orthopedic stem cell treatment in the world, Regenexx-C.
• Regenexx-C provides 100 – 1,000 times more cells than U.S. procedures.
• Regenexx Cayman offers cryopreservation, so patients can safely store their cells, indefinitely, and have a stem cell “repair kit” available for future treatment.

Focus and precision

• Regenexx is 100% orthopedic focused, offering a non-surgical solution, which requires less recovery and rehabilitation than invasive orthopedic surgery.
• Regenexx physicians use image-guided injections: even the most well-trained physicians miss the target 20% – 40% of the time (when injecting blindly).

Research and Technology

• Regenexx has published 44% of all orthopedic stem cell research worldwide.
• Regenexx holds 15 patents on various interventional orthopedic technologies and protocols.

Safety and outcomes

• Regenexx published the world’s largest stem cell safety study.
• Regenexx has been tracking patient outcomes since 2005 and reporting with full transparency.