Non-Surgical Treatment For Spinal Stenosis In Reno, NV

Each spinal vertebra (spinal bone) has a hole in the middle — the spinal canal — through which the nerves and spinal cord run. When structures inside or outside the spinal canal put pressure on these nerves, it’s called spinal stenosis.

Because the nerves that run through the spine are pain-sensitive and connect to your legs, you can get lower back pain as well as weakness or numbness in your legs or feet. People with spinal stenosis tend to suffer from standing intolerance, and standing for any length of time can cause back pain or leg symptoms that immediately improve once they sit down.

medical illustration showing a healthy spinal disc and a

How Is Spinal Stenosis Commonly Treated?

Common more conservative treatments include physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications, and high-dose epidural steroid injections to help reduce swelling around the nerves. However, although steroid injections temporarily help the pain, they can have severe side effects and reduce your body’s ability to heal. 

If all of the above fails, spinal stenosis is treated with surgery to decompress the area, which often means removing bone, disc, and ligaments around the tight spot in the spinal canal. Other times, spinal fusion surgery is performed (hardware is inserted to bolt the spinal bones together), but this can lead to adjacent segment disease (ASD), where areas above and below the fusion can get damaged over time. 

Additionally, spinal surgery comes with significant downtime.

That’s why we’ve developed a different approach.

5590 Kietzke Lane
Reno, NV 89511

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Doctors

Dr. Woolley brings a comprehensive approach to pain management and is well-versed in complex spine injections, joint injections, and regenerative medicine techniques. His goal is to help people manage and treat their pain so that they can regain function and enjoy life.

When asked about being part of the physician team at Sierra Neurosurgery Group, Dr. Wooley remarked, “I was initially drawn to Sierra Neurosurgery Group by the physicians themselves. Throughout my training I have spent a lot of time in the operating room, in clinics, and in hospital settings with neurosurgeons and I can say that the physicians and care teams at Sierra Neurosurgery Group are not only technically skilled, but they are also incredibly compassionate and put their patients first. I was also struck by how humble, and incredibly down to earth the team was. This combination is rare, and I consider myself lucky to join Sierra Neurosurgery Group.”

In his free time, Dr. Woolley enjoys golfing and is excited to experience the great courses in Reno.

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From a young age Dr. Blake knew he wanted to help others. Inspired by the example set by his mother, who provided legal counsel to the poor, he saw early on the positive influence one person could have on the lives of others.

His innate scientific curiosity drew him to the medical field. After a residency in anesthesiology at University of California, San Diego (UCSD) – where he was chief resident – Dr. Blake knew he had found his calling.

Originally from Denver, Colorado, Dr. Blake moved to Carson City, Nevada when he was 15.
At Sierra Neurosurgery Group, he helps patients manage acute and chronic pain. His practice is founded upon the core values of understanding, respect, and trust. He spends a good deal of his clinical time listening to patients in order to understand their experience both medically and emotionally and works with them to develop a custom treatment plan.

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Dr. Naomi Albertson is a dedicated non-surgical musculoskeletal specialist/sports medicine physician at Sierra Neurosurgery Group who has been serving the Reno community for 11 years. As a former NCAA athlete, with her own history of injuries, Dr. Albertson sought medical education to give her patients what she missed out on, a patient-centered, comprehensive approach to injury prevention, evaluation and treatment. Her Medical Doctorate, fellowship training and advanced Certificate of Added Qualification (CAQ) in sports medicine means she’s an expert in treating sports injuries, improving performance, and getting you back to the activities you love.

In addition to her 22 years of clinical practice, Dr. Albertson consults for several club sport programs in the area, assisting with injury triage and guiding athletes through safe return-to-play decisions. She also serves on the board of directors for Kime Peak, a sports performance software company. Dr. Albertson’s thorough, hands-on approach to treating injuries without surgery relies on options such as exercise, nutrition, physical therapy, regenerative and anti-inflammatory injections, weight management and when needed information about surgical interventions.

When she’s not in the office you can usually find her with her husband, Tim, either in the garden, sidelines watching her kids play sports, or on the trails in Reno walking, snowshoeing or skiing.

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Areas Treated

Cervical Spine (Not Upper Cervical or CCI)*, Elbow, Foot & Ankle, Hand & Wrist, Hip, Knee, Lumbar Spine, Shoulder, Thoracic Spine

*This provider is NOT authorized by Regenexx to treat the C0-C1 or C1-C2 levels of the neck or CCI (craniocervical instability).

During Regenexx’s outpatient procedures, custom concentrations of your body’s natural healing agents are injected into the exact areas of damage in the spine. Treatments use only your own blood to make super-concentrated platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or your own bone marrow concentrate (BMC), which contains stem cells.

Spinal stenosis treatment may include Regenexx-DDD protocol, which is the world’s first alternative to stenosis surgery that allows you to maintain your normal anatomy. Best of all, your downtime will be a fraction of what it is with surgery and generally requires little or no opioid pain medications or time off of work.

Am I a candidate?
Mature 60s woman in earphones look at laptop screen watch webinar online at home.

Join Chris Centeno, MD, founder of Regenexx, to learn how Regenexx procedures can help treat your back pain without surgery and lead to a faster recovery.

During this free webinar you’ll learn:

  • How procedures using bone marrow concentrate (BMC) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) compare to surgery and other spine pain treatment options
  • Procedure expectations
  • Answers to the most common questions about regenerative medicine treatments
Watch Webinar

At Regenexx, we want the best outcomes for everyone. So we’ve developed a process to determine if our treatments may be right for you.

During your initial appointment, your Regenexx doctor will use our four-part SANS (stability, articulation, neuromuscular, and symmetry) evaluation to identify the underlying causes of your pain. Your doctor will examine your injury through a full range of motion and may use ultrasound to observe the inner workings in real time.

This is important, as research shows that an MRI indicating stenosis isn’t enough to appropriately diagnose stenosis as the cause of back pain.

Am I a candidate?

Watch a real Regenexx spinal procedure performed by a certified Regenexx physician:

Our goal is to use the least invasive, least expensive procedure to get the desired results. Your Regenexx physician will work with you to determine whether that would be a platelet procedure or a BMC procedure.

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