The Centeno-Schultz Blog

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

Specilaized doctor discusses the Patrick's Test in evaluating the sacroiliac joint dysfunction.

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

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

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? We’ll explain in a moment, but first, let’s define the … Continued

In interventional orthopedics, our focus is on regenerative medicine. Therefore, we seek to preserve and regenerate structures, not destroy them. That in a nutshell is why we eighty-sixed RFA many years ago. With the advanced technologies and orthobiologics solutions available to treat patients today, RFA should be confined to our medical history books, yet, unfortunately, … Continued

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

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 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

Lumbar Fusion Surgery often Results in Adjacent Segment Disease Lumbar surgery is often recommended for low back pain, leg pain, and lumbar disc herniations that are unresponsive to conservative therapy. One surgery that is commonly performed is lumbar fusion, which often results in adjacent segment disease (ASD). ASD occurs when the discs and facets above … Continued