Regenerative medicine is an interdisciplinary field that treats injuries and diseases by harnessing the body’s own regenerative capabilities. They have the potential to heal or replace tissues and can be helpful in organ growth, self-repair and cellular therapies. Many scientists across varied medicine fields are researching intensively about the efficacies of regenerative medicines since the past two decades. Plastic surgeons are also doing their bit to infuse advancements related to regenerative medicines into their clinical field.

How regenerative medicines help?

Studies suggest that adults have several regenerative capabilities, which can help them in healing. For example, our skin has the capability to renew and repair itself. Regenerative medicine also includes the possibility of growing tissues and organs in the laboratory and implanting them when the body cannot heal itself. The goal behind regenerative medicine is to eliminate the shortcomings of the conventional treatment of the patients and the demand of the organs and organ rejection. Considering the way people are adopting it, you may well call it as the future of plastic surgery.

Application of regenerative medicines

The plastic surgeons are researching on devising effective medicines that could work in a range of surgery procedures for quick healing, such as:
1. Breast reconstruction or reduction: To enhance the appearance, size and contour of a woman’s breast.
2. Surgeries for feet and hands: To correct the toes or fingers, or to remove extra toes or fingers.
3. Wound care: To repair the several burn or injury or to repair any damaged area.
4. Facial surgeries: To correct the facial defects, defects from birth.
5. Microsurgery and flap procedures: To transplant skin, muscle or bone from one area to another area.
6. Facial reanimation: To treat patients who have lost movements in some part of their faces.

Importance of regenerative medicine

This form of advanced medicine holds high importance in the healthcare industry. Considering its involvement in various surgery procedures, it won’t be wrong to call it as the future of plastic surgery. Here is a quick glance at its importance in today’s healthcare domain.
1. The basic idea is to heal the wounds by your own cells, blood and tissues
2. Provides a safe and reliable way to repair damaged tissues or organs.
3. Positive impact on health by providing medicines to a variety of disease including diabetes, chronic diseases.
4. Aims at eliminating the shortage of donors.
5. Decreases the chances of illegal organ trading.
6. Considered as the best option because it involves extracting cells from the patients’ body, which reduces the risk of rejection.
7. Regenerative medicines have the potential to reform the healthcare system, which clearly signifies that the government can reduce expenses on healthcare in the near future.
8. Creates new job opportunities in healthcare institutions.
9. The research work is under process to reduce treatment costs for regenerative medicine.

The need and future of regenerative medicines

The regenerative medicines are widely used these days due to their prompt healing capabilities. These medicines address the issues occurring due to age, disease and defects. They have the power to enter inside these damaged areas and repair them. It helps scientists, clinicians and plastic surgeons to shape their future practices.
In the recent years, the demand for the regenerative medicines has grown exceptionally. The researchers have invested heavily in cell-based therapies to facilitate healing and repair with less pain. More insights into tissue engineering will further allow scientists to generate advanced solutions to the problems.

Things you should know about regenerative medicine

1.Regenerative medicine is a less painful experience as a comparison to conventional treatment. The process is 2.time-consuming but feels less pain during the process of healing.
3.Regenerative medicine is a non-surgical option to plastic surgery.
4.It a personalized medicine as it enables the patient’s body to heal more effectively as compared to other treatments.
5.The medicine has fewer chances of rejection as it leverages the patient’s cell as a part of the therapy.
6.It helps in overcoming chronic pain to the patient.

Key challenges with regenerative medicine

The regenerative medicines require expertise from a variety of professionals and involve common hurdles of viability and commercialization. Increased cost is one of the major challenges that it needs to work on. It requires huge investment in research and development but it accompanies high risk as well. This flaw in turn keeps most of the investors away from putting their money in this technology.
 
Further, it requires strong engagement between innovative researchers, government, industry and clinical practice, which can transform advance technology platforms. Regenerative medicine has a long way to go in the medicines market. It is important to convey its credibility to the patients at first, so that it increases its adaptability in the market.

Future of regenerative medicine

As per belief of the experts, regenerative medicine will prove as successful technology in the near future. This is mostly because of their aim to repair damaged tissues of the patients and healing diseases. The technology focuses on successful cultivation of new tissues and organs, and provides a solution to the shortage of the organs for transplantation.
 
Its success in the better future will help the plastic surgeons to treat several ailments with more ease. The research works on several clinical areas are already on the roll. These include nerve regeneration, breast reconstruction, burn care, scar treatment, fat grafting, bone regeneration, new skin generation via tissue expansion, face and hand generation, and much more.
 
In addition, the regenerative medicine offers a lucrative career opportunity and most demanding course for not just doctors but also to the non-medicine trained staff. The advance technique majorly focuses on lowering health cost as a comparison to the conventional treatment, improved access to the best treatment and better health outcomes for individuals and society.