Conservative Care
Conservative care refers to non-invasive or minimally invasive treatment approaches aimed at managing health conditions and promoting overall well-being. This approach often emphasizes lifestyle modifications, physical therapy, and other non-surgical interventions to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life.
Subscribe to the BlogHow 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
Does Anesthesia Increase Surgery Dementia Risk?
This morning’s study is near and dear to my heart. When I was a medical student, my father broke his hip and needed surgery. After surgery in the hospital where I was training, he experienced severe postoperative delirium. It was epic “sundowning,” which foreshadowed his upcoming dementia and slow descent into his own personal hell…read more Chronic Pain Programs Rise from the Ashes: This Was Silly in the ’90s and It’s Still Silly Today
Back in the ’90s, when I was a young physician, we had many “chronic pain programs” in town. These were made up of an interdisciplinary team of physicians and therapists who would be the court of last resort for patients in pain for whom traditional medicine couldn’t help. The problem was that patients would graduate…read more How to Determine Cell Viability and Vitality
Many physicians and patients get pitched on amniotic and cord “stem cell” products based on a document that purports to show that these cells are “viable”. However, there’s much more to the story than a simple viability percentage. You need to know a lot more to determine if cells are vital and healthy. What Is…read more Dramatic Improvement in Severely Degenerated Cervical Joint Without Surgery
I’ve spent the last 12 years staring at MRIs before and after orthopedic stem cell treatments. I’ve seen some incredible things in many conditions and some MRIs that didn’t change. This past week, as I reviewed the MRI of a patient with a severely degenerated cervical facet joint that we had treated at our licensed facility…read more Steroid Injections Kill Cartilage, so Why Not a Long Acting Steroid Shot?
Last month, a high-level research study confirmed what we’ve known for years: the anti-inflammatory steroid that the average family doctor, pain-management specialist, or orthopedic surgeon is injecting into your knee is killing the cartilage. So that research should put the whole steroid injection thing to bed, right? Nope. Surprisingly, this week, a company called Flexion has announced…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 Epidural Steroid Side Effects: Repeated Injections Cause Diminishing Relief
On the surface, as a nonsurgical way to relieve pain and inflammation, epidural steroid injections seem like a great idea. However, when we dive beneath the surface, we find that epidural steroid side effects are pretty awful. I’ve observed many times, that for some patients, that while that first shot seems nothing short of miraculous,…read more 
