Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano The Problem: Why Many Patients Struggle to Avoid Surgery As a specialist, I routinely evaluate patients who have already consulted highly skilled and respected surgeons. These physicians do extraordinary work, and I continue to refer to them when surgery is appropriate. However, many patients seeking to avoid surgery arrive after consultations constrained by time which is an unavoidable reality of insurance-driven medicine

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano What Most People Get Wrong About MRI Results: Why Facet Pain Often Goes Undetected as Back Pain in Dallas Many individuals with demanding, high-performance lives are told their MRI is “normal,” yet they continue to struggle with persistent low back pain—especially during activities requiring extension, rotation, standing, or prolonged sitting. One of the most overlooked reasons for this disconnect is facet joint dysfunc

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano When Traditional Pain Management Tools No Longer Match the Demands of Modern Life When I transitioned from the intellectually rewarding field of anesthesiology into pain management more than two decades ago, my goal was not simply to join a specialty. I wanted to operate at the highest level of it. That search led me to Texas Tech and the legendary Dr. Gabor Racz, whose fellowship was regarded internationally as the pi

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano Recently, a patient shared that during his MRI, a radiology technologist told him, “PRP really doesn’t work for most people.” The statement wasn’t malicious but it was incomplete. And for patients trying to make informed decisions, incomplete information is often the most damaging kind.  “PRP Doesn’t Work” A Misinterpretation of Technique, Not Science When you hear that PRP is unreliable, the issue is almost never the

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 Pain Transformation: When Pain Becomes the Teacher: Adversity as the Catalyst for Transformation When Pain Interrupts Your Power One day it’s simple. Twisting a cap, shifting gears, or signing your name. Then, seemingly overnight, that freedom disappears. Pain at the base of your thumb, the wrist that once steered your car or typed your vision into reality, now protests every small movement. Blow-drying your hair become

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano It’s human nature to look for one culprit. “One bad disc.” “One torn tendon.” “One joint gone wrong.” But the body doesn’t work that way—because it’s not a collection of parts. It’s a living, moving system. The One-Problem Illusion “My Pain Is Coming from One Problem” We grow up believing that pain must have a single cause. After all, we live in a medical world built on specialists, each one focused on one part of the b

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano The Umbilical Stem Cell Myth: What the FDA Really Says The Myth: You’ve probably heard it. “Umbilical stem cells are the most powerful, youthful cells you can get. Why use your own when you can have younger ones?” It’s a seductive story, especially in an era obsessed with quick rejuvenation. Clinics across the country promote umbilical, placental, and amniotic products as if they were a medical revolution already blesse

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano “PRP Works Instantly " Is Expecting Instant Gratification From Biology In a...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano Outdated Thinking About Cartilage Repair After 50 They told you cartilage can’t...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano The Problem: When back pain care is built for profit, not people Chronic low...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano The Problem: We’ve Normalized Joint Replacement as “Inevitable” For decades,...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano Sales Hype vs. Safety Reality with PRP vs Birth Products In regenerative...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano The Problem with New Drugs for Chronic Pain Pharmaceutical companies continue to...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano Surgery and Medications Aren’t the Only Answer Too many people are told their...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano Regenerative Medicine Protocols in Dallas & Plano: Why Quick Joint Injections...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano The Ideals of Feminine Aging and Gluteal Atrophy Aging gracefully doesn’t mean...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano Living with knee osteoarthritis means living with pain, stiffness, and the fear...