Spine Conditions
Spine conditions encompass a wide range of disorders affecting the spinal column, including degenerative disc disease, herniated discs, and scoliosis. These conditions can result in pain, numbness, and functional limitations, requiring medical evaluation and treatment to alleviate symptoms and improve quality of life.
Subscribe to the BlogSpinal Stenosis Options: PT as Effective as Surgery
What are your spinal stenosis options? Should you have surgery? This has been a rough 5-10 years for surgeons who operate on the joints and the spine. Study after study comparing common surgeries to either placebo surgery (i.e. a fake operation) or physical therapy continues to show that many procedures don’t work. The most recent victim this week…read more
SI Joint Fusion Problems vs. Stem Cell Injections
Many patients who have intractable SI joint pain who opt for surgery eventually experience SI Joint Fusion problems. As an alternative to this invasive surgery, do stem cell injections work for chronic SI joint problems? One of the advantages of 10 years of stem cell use for orthopedic injuries is that I have patients who…read more
Neck and Thumb Pain: A Doctor’s Personal Story
Are neck and thumb pain connected? Can a nerve in your neck cause hand arthritis? In the early summer, I had a pinched nerve in my neck and shortly thereafter, on the hand that was getting numb, evidence of early arthritis appeared in that thumb joint. Believe it or not, these two things are quite…read more The Side Effects of Lumbar Radiofrequency Can Be Worse Than the Relief
On this page: What is lumbar radiofrequency? What are the side effects of lumbar radiofrequency? Radiofrequency lesioning is a common treatment for chronic back and neck pain. However, the side effects of lumbar radiofrequency may be worse than the relief it supplies. Let me explain. What Is Lumbar Radiofrequency? Radiofrquency (RF) treatments for low back…read more Why are We still Injecting Steroids into Knees and Spines?
Steroid anti-inflammatories are powerful drugs at suppressing swelling. They are very commonly injected into joints that have arthritis and they generally work for a few weeks to months to relieve pain. However, is this a good idea? Many recent studies would argue that this is a really bad practice that should be stopped. There are…read more Severe Buttocks Pain After a Fall: A Patient’s Story
On this page: RP’s story Diagnosing the severe buttocks pain Treating a hematoma in the buttocks RP is an elderly physician who I met in the most unlikely of circumstances. He was performing a life insurance physical on me and I noticed he had a cane. We struck up a conversation about his severe buttock…read more Does Low Vitamin D Cause Neck Disc Herniations?
Vitamin-D has been a very big deal this past few years. There’s been back and forth on whether low vitamin-D is associated with arthritis. However, can low levels also cause neck and back problems? On the heels of this controversy, there was an interesting study this past month on an association between low vitamin D…read more Epidural Steroid Complications: Abnormal Vaginal Bleeding 3X More Likely
What’s new in epidural steroid complications? I’ve often discussed that epidural steroids have a very powerful hit of anti-inflammatory steroids. How powerful? I like to explain to patients that if the height of a matchbook represents the amount of steroid your body naturally produces, the height of the Empire State Building represents the amount in…read more 
