Back Pain

Why a Flabby Butt May Be Making Your Back Pain Worse

Some of us tend to get a flat and flabby butt as we age. However, did you know that this can also make your back pain worse? Let’s explore how that works and what to do about it. Butt Muscles as We Age Many of us get a flat butt as we age. There’s even…read more

Should We Be Cementing Fractured Back Bones?

This is an interesting blog for me to write. On the one hand, I have colleagues that perform vertebroplasty to treat thoracic compression fractures and say that it can be amazing, older people get rolled in and walk out. On the other hand, the idea of bone cement, an artificial substance to glue bones back…read more

We Should Never Be Proud of MRIs That Show Holes Burned in Patient’s Bodies…

A new study was recently published on a new treatment for back pain due to degenerative discs. Ordinarily, I would be excited, as what’s not to like about another treatment option for back-pain patients. However, the problem with this one is that it works by blasting a hole in the vertebrae? Yep, you heard that…read more

Fusion Surgery No Better than No Surgery

Does fusion surgery work? I have blogged before about the research showing that this surgery is often no better in the long-run than no surgery. However, I’ve also pointed out that surgeons have a way of interpreting data in studies that benefit their preconceived notions of efficacy. Today’s blog is about one such study which…read more

My Top 7 Tips for Weight Lifting with Back and Neck Pain

I often get asked by back- and neck-pain patients how they should be working out at the gym or with a personal trainer. While there are no published and tested guidelines, what follows is what I have learned through years of trial and error as someone who has both issues and who likes working out.…read more

Fight the Awful Effects of Sitting and Gravity: My “Old Man” Stretch

As we get old, our spines and bodies suffer the effects of sitting and the weight of earth’s gravity with additional insults from smartphones. As a result, I have a secret stretch I do every day to help me fight these forces and to help avoid the worst of the “old man” (or “old woman”)…read more

How to Avoid Discography Side Effects: Biologic Discography

Frankly, until we became the first in the world to inject stem cells into discs, discography never made much sense to me. I would tell patients, “I’m going to poke a hole in your disc to see if there’s a hole in your disc.” However, when we began to see that platelet rich plasma and…read more

RIP Radiofrequency Ablation Treatment for Low Back Pain

When Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) became popular in the late 90s, it seemed like a miracle for many patients with chronic neck pain. At the same time, while this therapy seemed to work reliably to provide pain relief in the neck, it was always hit or miss as a treatment for low back pain. Perhaps that’s…read more