By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano High-performing individuals rarely identify as “patients.” They are CEOs, entrepreneurs, physicians, athletes, and weekend competitors who expect their bodies to keep pace with demanding professional and personal lives. Yet after 50, even disciplined training and excellent genetics can no longer fully offset age-related changes in joints, tendons, ligaments, and neuromuscular control. In Dallas, orthobiologics has becom

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 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

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 When Radiculopathy Drives Tendon Pain: The Hidden Link Most Patients Never Hear About Most people are told their tendon pain is a “local problem.” A sore gluteal tendon. A painful hamstring insertion. A stubborn Achilles. But not all tendon pain begins in the tendon. In many high-functioning patients, the true source is upstream—at the spinal nerve root. When a spinal nerve becomes irritated or compressed, the muscle it

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 “PRP is just spinning blood and injecting it.” A colleague of mine once called and asked how much blood I draw for a PRP knee procedure.I was honestly flabbergasted—because that question misses the entire point. That’s like asking, “How much anesthesia do you give?” Any experienced physician knows the answer depends on the patient, the pathology, and the plan. When a patient comes in with knee pain, I don’t simply inje

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

And that’s the problem. Because to “feel” your way into a joint, you often have to touch bone — or even hit it — to know you’re deep...

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 In the doctor’s lounge last week, a knee-replacement surgeon claimed that...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano You Shouldn’t Mix Steroids with PRP Because PRP Needs “Good Inflammation” to...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano The Conversation That Sparked This Blog Recently, in the orthopedic hospital...

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts | Dallas–Plano PRP Alone Often Isn’t Enough for More Advanced Cases. If you’ve been told you...

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