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spine back

Consequences of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery

Spine surgery has lasting consequences, as it forever changes the lumbar anatomy and biomechanics.  It’s not like a bad haircut which will grow out over time.  The anatomical changes are permanent. The consequences of minimally invasive spine surgery are truly something to talk about directly. We have all seen the ads where a patient who … Continued
stem cell disc treatment

Watch Dr. Pitts Perform a Disc Treatment Using Stem Cells

Today, we invite you into one of our interventional orthopedics procedure suites. Dr. Pitts will be performing an advanced image-guided stem cell injection into an L4–5 disc to treat a patient with an annular tear and low back pain. Watch the video below, and you can also review terminology and equipment in this post below … Continued
DDD

Can You Exercise with Degenerative Disc Disease?

Spring is here, and for many of us, that means those activity levels that dwindled off a bit, or a lot, throughout the cold winter months are starting to kick into high gear. The story may not be the same for those who suffer with degenerative disc disease – but let’s not jump ahead of … Continued
spinal decompression

Spinal Decompression May Fix One Problem but Creates Another

We have a list of surgeries that we consider surgeries that might accomplish one goal, but they create more damage in the process. Spinal decompression (aka laminectomy) is on that list. So today we’re going to dive into this issue. Spinal Decompression Is Damage to Accomplish a Goal First what, exactly is a spinal decompression? … Continued
gymnast with foot pain

Young Gymnast with Foot Pain Caused by Her Back?

The modern world of orthopedics consists of hyperspecialists who focus on treating injured athletes based on their individual broken and painful parts. So the knee doctor treats the athlete with knee pain, the foot and ankle doctor treats the athlete with foot pain, and the spine doctor treats the athlete with back pain. At the … Continued
tight ITB

Always Tightening Up Your ITB? You Could Have a Back Problem

Back pain and a tight ITB often go hand in hand…at least that’s our experience with about two-thirds of the patients we examine with back pain. In these cases, we find it best to treat not just the back problem but also the ITB. Why? Addressing both areas can significantly improve recovery outcomes, as highlighted … Continued
back fusion

Why a Back Fusion May Just Lead to More Fusions

Today we’re seeing more and more orthopedic surgeons fusing multiple back bones at once. Instead of a one-level lumbar fusion, which fuses two bones together, they’re doing two or three levels, which fuses three or four bones together. We probably don’t have to state the obvious here, but the more levels that are permanently joined … Continued
degenerative spondylolisthesis

Why Diagnosing Degenerative Spondylolisthesis Early Is Critical

You might not be able to imagine your doctor as a patient, but doctors sometimes find themselves on the other side of the stethoscope. Our own Dr. Centeno is a good example of a doctor turned patient when it comes to diagnosing and treating degenerative spondylolisthesis. A degenerative condition, without intervention, will only worsen over … Continued
epidural steroid injections

Why You’re Getting Less Relief with Your Epidural Steroid Injections

Epidural steroid injections are extremely common treatments provided for irritated or inflamed spinal nerves. These irritated nerves can cause pain in the area of the nerve in the back or neck or pain anywhere along the nerve branch in areas that nerve supplies, such as the knee, shoulder, hip, and so on. They might seem … Continued