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Because it’s known that spinal fusions cause irreversible damage to good discs adjacent to fusions1,2, it makes sense that spinal fusions are big contributors to the opioid epidemic. The relationship between taking opioids and spine surgery is becoming more important as fusion volumes continue rising and opioid use continues to rise.3  A respected orthopedic journal, (The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery), reported that 84% of patients who undergo even simple spine surgery, take opioids for the first time in their lives after having spine surgery.  In that study 9,990 spine surgery patients were followed. An important finding was that none of these spine patients taking opioids after spine surgery took opioids before

Did you know your body has an amazing ability to heal itself?  Historically patients were told they would need certain invasive surgery to heal particular injuries, but today we know that many times these same injuries can be healed with growth factors that come directly from your own body. Regenerative medicine takes advantage of our natural ability to heal ourselves by using healthy regenerative cells found throughout the body. One example is PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) therapy. This is a treatment that aids in the body’s natural ability to heal its’ injuries and amplify the natural growth factors your body uses to

Many athletes have experienced sports injuries every day but are not being appropriately informed of all the options available to them. It’s fair to say there are many surgeries performed each day in the United States that can be avoided with regenerative treatments such as PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma), BMC (Bone Marrow Concentrate stem cells), and Fibrin, and FDA-approved substance utilized for off-label use in the Discseel® Procedure, developed by Kevin Pauza MD. When patients visit our office, they are presented with all of their options, however the same does not hold true when the same patients visit other spine and

THE HOLY GRAIL OF PAIN RELIEF? CBS SUNDAY MORNING CORRESPONDENT MARTHA TEICHNER REPORTS ON A NEW PROCEDURE TO TREAT THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF BACK PAIN More than 1.3 million Americans undergo spinal surgery each year — more than triple the number of coronary bypass surgeries and more than five times the number of hip replacements. Approximately 300,000 of those back surgeries were spinal fusions, in which vertebrae are joined surgically and held in place with metal screws or rods. For many patients, the surgery is salvation. For others, it can be a nightmare. CBS SUNDAY MORNING correspondent Martha Teichner speaks with patients and doctors, including Dr. Kevin Pauza — founder of

Most adults in the United States will suffer from excruciating chronic back pain at some time in their lives. For the lucky ones, it will be short-lived. For the others, it may continue for weeks, months, or even years. Surgery is the attempted fix for more than 1.2 million Americans suffering from chronic back pain each year, and about 300,000 of these back surgeries were spinal fusion. This procedure is done for herniated discs or other disc injuries and involves joining vertebrae so they cannot move. Often they are held in place with metal screws or rods. However, fusion was