Dr. Drew Timmermans

Dr. Drew Timmermans Naturopathic Doctor striving to address the root causes of chronic pain

Regenerative Performance is a comprehensive guide to preventing and recovering from injury, eliminating pain and maximizing athletic performance

Fear avoidance is a common issue among those suffering from chronic pain. The fear of exacerbating pain can lead to inac...
02/04/2026

Fear avoidance is a common issue among those suffering from chronic pain. The fear of exacerbating pain can lead to inactivity, which in turn can contribute to muscle weakness, joint stiffness, and reduced overall functionality. This avoidance behavior creates a cycle where fear leads to inactivity, which then leads to more pain, perpetuating the chronic pain experience.

Annie O'Connor's Stop Light model is a helpful tool in managing this fear, which is what we use with our patients. It uses the metaphor of traffic lights to help patients gauge their pain levels during exercise and determine appropriate actions:

1. Green Light: Indicates safe pain levels. Minor discomfort or pain that eases with continued movement falls into this category. It suggests that it is okay to continue with the activity as planned.
2. Yellow Light: Represents caution. Pain that is more intense but still tolerable, and might increase slightly with activity, suggests the need to modify the exercise. Slowing down, reducing intensity, or altering the activity might be necessary while monitoring how the pain responds.
3. Red Light: Signifies stop. Severe pain or pain that sharply increases with activity requires immediate cessation. This level of pain indicates that the activity might be harmful, and it is crucial to stop and consult with a healthcare provider.

By utilizing this model, patients can better understand and manage their pain during exercise, ensuring that they are not avoiding beneficial activities out of fear. Working closely with a healthcare provider, patients can learn to differentiate between pain that signals harm and pain that is part of the healing process, ultimately leading to improved outcomes and a path toward pain resolution.

02/04/2026

There is strong data from France on knee osteoarthritis and bone marrow stem cell treatment showing that many patients can avoid knee replacement. Despite the potential cost savings of preventing surgery, these procedures often are not covered by insurance, even though avoiding a knee replacement could save insurers significant money.

This is called treating the person, and using the body’s natural ability to heal.This is where, I believe, we have the m...
02/03/2026

This is called treating the person, and using the body’s natural ability to heal.

This is where, I believe, we have the most room for improvement in the chronic pain space.

When we move from merely trying to fix our patient’s pain (i.e. suppressing symptoms with drugs) to guiding them through the process of resolving it, we have the ability to get into a new level of healing.

This is a journey that acknowledges that true healing isn’t just about symptom relief, it’s about supporting the body to do what it wants to do, which is to come back to homeostasis and heal.

Here are some examples of how this could play out in the real world:

1️⃣ going to therapy to address childhood traumas

2️⃣ reducing heavy metals through chelation therapy (if testing comes back high)

3️⃣ providing the building blocks for connective tissue healing, such as collagen, vitamin C, amino acids, etc.

All of those are different approaches that can help people shift into a state of healing. What each person needs is unique, so there is no one size fits all approach here

02/03/2026

People get scared of “side effects” from BPC, but almost every horror story I’ve seen has the same root cause: garbage products from research chemical websites. I walk through why I favor oral BPC when you’re not working directly with a physician, the one actual side effect I’ve seen in seven years of using pharmacy-grade BPC in clinic

02/02/2026

Lasting relief from chronic joint pain depends on understanding why the pain is still there, not just where an MRI or X‑ray looks abnormal. A detailed history and a hands-on exam that intentionally recreates the familiar pain can reveal contributions from ligaments and nerves, such as the infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve in knee osteoarthritis. Injecting only inside the joint with PRP does not address these structures, which is why results plateau when they are ignored. Care that targets every confirmed pain generator, rather than a single imaging finding, can move outcomes from helping some patients to helping the vast majority.

This is such an important concept to understand. Tissue damage does not always equal pain. If it did, 100% of the world ...
02/02/2026

This is such an important concept to understand. Tissue damage does not always equal pain. If it did, 100% of the world would be in chronic pain, as we all have some level of tissue damage!

So what do we do then? How do we figure out what’s causing pain if imaging can lead us astray?

It’s not that imaging is never useful, it’s just that it needs to be taken in the context of the physical assessment.

If you have shoulder pain and the physical exam suggests a supraspinatus tear (a rotator cuff tear), and the MRI confirms this, then we are confident the rotator cuff tear is the cause of your pain.

But if your assessment demonstrates that your rotator cuff is strong and non-painful when tested, but the tests for your biceps tendon recreate your pain, then a rotator cuff tear on your MRI doesn’t matter when it comes to treating your pain.

More nuance than may be necessary, but we may still treat the rotator cuff with PRP or stem cells as part of a comprehensive treatment, but if we don’t treat the biceps tendon in this example then your pain won’t improve.

We need to look at the imaging within the context of the physical assessment.

02/01/2026

Some patients barely feel stem cell injections, while others feel like they got hit with a truck after PRP. What’s actually going on?

In this conversation, we break down why PRP tends to cause more short-term inflammation than stem cells, what “super responders” and sensitive, histamine‑prone patients can expect, and why some people feel better for a week or two after stem cells before their pain temporarily returns.

We cover how stem cells really work (paracrine signaling, exosomes, peptides, endogenous opioids) instead of the common “they turn into new tissue” story, why many clinicians avoid NSAIDs after regenerative procedures, when Tylenol and muscle relaxers can make sense, and why some clinics are experimenting with losartan for its anti‑fibrotic effects based on early animal data.

01/31/2026

At a community clinic, very sick and medically complex patients, including those with diabetes and other conditions that typically slow healing, received orthobiologic injections and even milder dextrose prolotherapy and still saw meaningful results.

This sentiment forms the backbone of everything I believe in in medicine. Yes, there is a time and a place for suppressi...
01/31/2026

This sentiment forms the backbone of everything I believe in in medicine. Yes, there is a time and a place for suppression, but we're over here talking about chronic pain and not acute emergencies.

It gives me goosebumps to even think about this philosophy. What feelings does it give you?

01/30/2026

PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, takes the platelets that naturally arrive first at an injury and concentrates them for targeted injection into a problem area. This can help re-start a healing response using your own biology. It is often considered when standard treatments are exhausted or when surgery is presented as the last remaining option.

Any time you do a subcutaneous injection, the fluid injected is absorbed by the blood vessels and lymph vessels in the s...
01/30/2026

Any time you do a subcutaneous injection, the fluid injected is absorbed by the blood vessels and lymph vessels in the subcutaneous tissue. There is a thick layer of fascia that is found at the deepest portion of the subcutaneous adipose tissue, which is a physical barrier stopping almost all fluid (and pathogens) from going any further.

This is why injecting the peptide subQ in the area over your shoulder pain doesn’t do anything different than injecting it in the abdomen.

You can keep injecting it over your area of pain if you want, but if you want to simplify things, just use your abdomen.

Imaging techniques like MRIs, X-rays and diagnostic ultrasound are valuable tools, but they don't always capture the ful...
01/29/2026

Imaging techniques like MRIs, X-rays and diagnostic ultrasound are valuable tools, but they don't always capture the full picture. Many patients have normal imaging results despite experiencing significant pain. This discrepancy highlights the importance of a comprehensive physical examination.

During a physical exam, we (and other great providers who do this well) can assess the body in motion, specifically load tissues with special tests, and identify specific areas of tenderness or dysfunction. A skilled clinician can perform various orthopedic and neurodynamic tests to pinpoint the exact source of pain, whether it's a joint, muscle, nerve, or other tissue. This hands-on approach allows for a nuanced understanding of the pain's origin, which is essential for developing an effective treatment plan.

For instance, a patient presenting with lower back pain might have normal MRI results. However, a detailed physical exam might reveal pain with facet loading and relief with facet unloading that imaging alone could miss. By identifying these underlying issues, we can then provided a detailed and comprehensive plan for calming down inflammation in the facet joints to address the root cause of pain.

While imaging provides valuable insights, it is the thorough physical examination that truly connects symptoms to their source, enabling precise and effective treatment of chronic pain.

Address

201 W Guadalupe Road Suite 301
Gilbert, AZ
85233

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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+14805084226

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Our Story

Regenerative Performance is an integrative medical practice that helps high achieving people perform at their peak by utilizing unique and innovative approaches designed to improve cognitive and athletic performance, attain desired body composition and aesthetics and help the body to regenerate to heal from injuries and eliminate pain.

Regenerative Performance has 5 main facets: 1) Regenerative Medicine, including prolotherapy, PRP and Stem Cell Therapy 2) Cognitive Enhancement, for those looking to improve their mental capacity and fortitude 3) Sports Performance, for everyone from Weekend Warriors to Professional Athletes 4) Axis Performance, specifically designed for people who have hormone imbalances 5) Aesthetics, including PRP facials and customized regiments to prevent and reverse the signs of aging

Dr. Timmermans and his team have a deep passion for helping people regain what they have lost, whether that’s the ability to play sports, run around with their grandkids, or build their business as an entrepreneur.