By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Regen Experts powered by Pain Experts Deborah Westergaard, MD is a double board-certified physician with over two decades of advanced experience in minimally invasive, image-guided spine and musculoskeletal procedures. She specializes in precision-guided orthobiologic and regenerative medicine approaches designed to help selected patients pursue non-operative options for joint and spine conditions. Orthobiologic Joint Maintenance There is a momen

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano Every so often, life offers a moment of stillness. Mine arrived over dinner with a friend of nearly three decades, a reminder of how quickly time escapes us. One moment we are building our careers, certain of our future paths; the next, we look up and wonder how 25 years passed in a blink. The truth is undeniable:The world we are living in now is not the world we lived in even six years ago.Not medically. Not economical

NSAIDs, Steroid Injections, and Turmeric are Often Options Joint pain flares push many people toward two common options: Oral NSAIDs Intra-articular corticosteroid injections Both have been widely used for decades. Both temporarily reduce pain. And both have well-documented downsides for cartilage biology. Oral NSAIDs inhibit COX-1 and COX-2 and can impair: Cartilage cell metabolism Proteoglycan synthesis Collagen turnover Long-term cartilage recovery Repeated intra-articular

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano The Hidden Bias Behind “Covered Care” There’s a deeply ingrained belief among both patients and physicians that if an insurance company doesn’t cover a treatment, it must be unproven or worse, “fringe.” Even excellent, forward-thinking physicians fall into this mindset. We’re trained from day one to consider cost and coverage because we genuinely care about our patients. We want to ease their suffering without creating

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano Orthobiologic Myth #7: “Older Adults Don’t Respond to PRP” There’s a persistent myth that once you cross a certain age, regenerative medicine is off the table. That your platelets are “too old” or your body no longer knows how to repair itself. That simply isn’t true. It’s accurate that platelet viability and stem-cell activity gradually decline with age, and that certain medications (like platelet inhibitors or anti-in

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano You Shouldn’t Mix Steroids with PRP Because PRP Needs “Good Inflammation” to Work Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is designed to harness your body’s own repair system. Platelets release powerful growth factors that rely on a controlled inflammatory phase to begin the repair cascade. Adding a steroid injection into PRP may feel like a shortcut—but it actually cancels out the very biology that makes PRP effective. PRP is not a

For over two decades, Regenexx has been at the forefront of non-surgical orthopedic and spine care, developing regenerative medicine treatments that utilize the body's natural healing capabilities. Now, Pain Experts, the official Regenexx affiliate in Plano, Texas, brings these research-backed, cutting-edge treatments to patients seeking lasting pain relief without surgery. The Problem: Traditional Treatments Often Fall Short Conventional approaches to joint and spine pain ty