Former firefighter Anthony Pernicano had to stop surfing, a sport he loved, because of inflammation and pain.
Anthony lives in San Diego and was a firefighter for more than 31 years.
“There’s no warm-up involved. You go from 0 to 60, from like sleeping at 2 in the morning to now you’re lifting patients and you know hundreds of pounds,” says Anthony.
While he’s retired, the strenuous career took a significant toll on his body, forcing him to stop partaking in sports due to the pain.
Anthony suffered from chronic pain in his knee, neck and hip due to previous injuries. He turned to traditional medicine in the past to get help but unfortunately nothing seemed to work.
“They’re going to create more issues because once you do a joint replacement, which I have on my left hip, anything can happen. You know you can have revisions from all kinds of things, your body not taking to the implant and getting infections,” says Anthony.
Back in December of 2024, Anthony decided to get treatment from Dr. Adeel Khan at the Eterna Health clinic in Los Cabos.
“Unfortunately, firefighting and a lot of first responder jobs take a lot of beatings on their body. The goal is to get him out of chronic pain but also to prevent it from coming back,” said Dr. Khan.
Previously, doctors told Anthony he would need another hip replacement but Dr. Khan is hoping that won’t be the case.
Anthony had three degenerative conditions. Craniocervical instability (CCI) is underdiagnosed and can be the root cause of not just chronic neck pain but headaches and dizziness too.
Dr. Khan treated Anthony’s ligaments around the area of the neck, using stem cells, exosomes and peptides. Heused stem cells to inject into the joint and the disc because when the ligaments are unstable, you get degeneration of the joint and the disc. The stem cells help to reverse that damage. Dr. Khan also treated his knee and hip.
6 Month Update Post Treatment:
“I’m happy to report that I don’t have knee pain anymore. I’m surfing again. I can go from a stand to a resting squat and a duck walk so I’m convinced that injury is healed,” shares Anthony. “I have an arthritic hip. I was treated and since then I have less pain and better range of motion. I am continually strengthening that joint through training. Lastly, I was told I was going to need two fusions in my cervical spine. I am happy to report that my neck is much more stable. It’s much smoother and I got better range of motion and no pain.”
Anthony says he is ecstatic with his results and grateful for everything Dr. Khan has done for him as a patient and others who have suffered as well.
Watch Anthony’s testimonial here