Spine pain

Artificial Disc Replacement Remains More Hype Than Reality

If you read this blog, you know that I often write about things I experience on a day-to-day basis while seeing patients. This past week a patient came in with a herniated disc in her neck and was offered an artificial disc as a treatment. After a short discussion, she no longer wanted one. What…read more

Are They Really Injecting Your Disc?

I often write about what I experience on a day-to-day basis. One of the more interesting scams out there is a proliferation of ex-US “stem cell” clinics that are telling patients that they are injecting intervertebral discs when, in fact, most are never coming close to placing cells in the disc. Let’s dive into this…read more

Disc Injections With Platelet Raisins and Protein Syrup

The last blog I published was on the mounting evidence for using PRP to treat the common causes of spinal pain. However, in that literature review, one study stood out. That research was abruptly halted at eight weeks, which was curious. As I sat down to read and analyze this paper in more detail, it…read more

Is There Solid Research on Using PRP to Treat Spinal Pain?

Art: Credit Dall-E with the prompt: “A human spine in 3D surrounded by red blood cells in the style of impressionism.” As you know, I often write about what I experience. This week an interventional spine physician questioned whether PRP would be useful in the treatment of lumbar radiculopathy or painful facet joints in the…read more

Here’s Another Video: How Can We Treat a Growing Cervical Disc Bulge?

I’m on a roll with videos, so I’ll go with it. This is one of Dr. Pitt’s patients who did well with a PRP based functional spinal unit approach rather than cutting out the bulging disc in his neck:

The New SIS Fact Finder Paper on Intradiscal Biologics

Is it safe to inject the intervertebral disc with orthobiologics? That’s the topic taken up by the Spinal Intervention Society (SIS) in a recent paper published by their Patient Safety Committee. After reading this paper, I have to say that I agree with some of the caution, but I also recognize that there is a…read more

The Artificial Disc Replacement Hustle

Medicine is often more about marketing than reality. One area where masterful marketing has overtaken reality is the promise of an artificial disc. Let’s explore the hype and the reality today. The Promise of the ADR Both fusion and disc replacement surgery are performed in patients with DDD (Degenerative Disc Disease). DDD is when the…read more

Can a Large Cervical Disc Bulge Be Treated with Platelets?

Just 5 years ago, the spine cases that I would accept for treatment with precise image-guided orthobiologics were determined by the severity of the MRI. Meaning more severe cases of disc bulges, stenosis, and degeneration were turned down and told to seek surgery. However, as time when on, some cases seemed to break that mold…read more