Degenerative Disc Disease

Degenerative disc disease is a condition characterized by the breakdown of spinal discs over time, resulting in pain and reduced mobility. It’s often associated with aging and wear and tear on the spine.

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Setting an Ethical Framework for Preventative Orthobiologics

Anyone practicing legit high-level Interventional Oorthobiologics (IO) has had the experience of a patient asking to have an area or body part treated just because that patient has some degenerative changes on imaging but no symptoms. As a field, I would argue that we are the first physicians in history to begin addressing this dilemma…read more

The Alien Abduction Model of DDD: Why Cellular Drug Trial Results Have Been Underwhelming

Let’s say that you’re sleeping one night and get awoken by an alien in your bedroom who takes you back to the mothership for experiments on your low back. That’s pretty much what we’ve been doing with animal degenerative disc disease research for decades. It’s this artificial DDD model that has caused many cell therapy…read more

Could a New Hydrogel Help DDD?

Degenerative disc disease or DDD is a common problem. While lots of therapies have been discussed, there is still no reliable way to grow people a new disc. A recent small study on an injectable hydrogel was recently hyped in the media as maybe solving this issue? Let’s review that new data. What is DDD?…read more

What is the Ligamentum Flavum? Why Should You Care?

One of the more critical ligaments in your spine is generally an unknown for most patients. That’s despite being responsible for causing lots of back pain and general havoc. That structure is called the ligamentum flavum. Let’s dig in. Ligaments and the Spine If we had to hold a competition between different spinal structures like…read more

Recovering from Orthobiologic Injections: My Journey

One of the biggest questions patients ask every day is what can I expect when recovering from my Orthobiologic procedures? What does that look like? Let’s learn a little today by seeing how I’m doing today after my procedures this week. Let’s dig in. Staying Ahead of the Aging Curve As I get older and…read more

Do You Really Need that Low Back Fusion?

Low Back Fusion has become one of the most common surgical procedures performed in the US, despite very poor evidence that it’s better than not doing any surgery. One of the big issues that often comes up for patients who have a condition called Degenerative Spondylolisthesis is whether they need a Fusion or can just…read more

Potential Problems With Artificial Disc Replacement

On this page: Artificial discs and what they’re used for The problems with artificial disc replacement New research shows big complication rates A physicians experience with ADRs Artificial disc replacement has been all the rage for the past 5 to 10 years. The idea is that it’s supposed to help reduce the side effects of…read more

My Own Non-Surgical Spondylolisthesis Recovery

If you read this blog, you know I have a chronic back issue called spondylolisthesis. However, this past year, I have had my crew at our Colorado HQ working on it and there’s nothing like results to again show me how important our treatments can be. Let me explain. What Is Spondylolisthesis? Spondylolisthesis means that…read more
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