I want women to know their options while they still have options. Dr. Deborah Westergaard explains why she placed an advertisement in D Magazine and what women in Dallas and Plano should ask about PRP, bone marrow concentrate and personalized joint preservation before considering joint replacement or spine surgery.

By Deborah Westergaard, M.D. Dallas | Regen Experts Dallas & Plano What to Know About Sedation for PRP and Bone Marrow Concentrate Procedures You have probably had the experience of describing something about your own body and watching it get filed away as background noise. Something aches. You mention it. You get told it is arthritis, it is age, it is what happens. Somewhere in there, the thing you actually said stops being information and starts being a complaint. I think a

Artificial intelligence may be learning to design new proteins. But it still cannot look at your knee, understand the life you want to protect, and decide which structure may actually be driving your pain. By Deborah Westergaard, M.D. Dallas | Regen Experts Dallas & Plano Can Technology Help Preserve Your Joints? Lately, I have noticed something interesting. My patients are asking me about artificial intelligence—not with fear, but with genuine curiosity. Recently, a patient

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Regen Experts | Dallas and Plano Short answer: Imaging guidance helps confirm that a spinal injection reaches its intended target. Fluoroscopy can show needle depth and contrast spread, while ultrasound provides information about surrounding soft tissues. At Regen Experts in Dallas and Plano, Dr. Deborah Westergaard reviews imaging and performs an examination to assess whether regenerative spine treatment may be appropriate for selected patients.

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Regen Experts | Dallas and Plano Short answer: Treating a nerve may not address the joint problem causing chronic knee pain. Hydrodissection may help selected patients with nerve irritation, while bone stress, ligament instability, or meniscal injury may require a different approach. At Regen Experts in Dallas and Plano, Dr. Deborah Westergaard uses examination, MRI review, and ultrasound to evaluate potential pain sources. If the Nerve Carries th

By Deborah Westergaard, M.D. Dallas | Regen Experts Dallas & Plano Perhaps buying a convertible in middle age or while heading toward retirement is not a crisis after all. Perhaps it is simply a very enjoyable reason to get outside, put the top down, and experience the morning light. That does not make a convertible a medical treatment. But morning light, healthy sleep, regular movement, good nutrition, and metabolic health all contribute to the environment in which your body

By Deborah Westergaard, M.D. Dallas | Regen Experts Dallas & Plano Sometimes. Knee arthritis involves more than cartilage. The bone beneath the cartilage, the joint lining, the meniscus, and the ligaments can all contribute to pain. At Regen Experts in Dallas and Plano, Dr. Deborah Westergaard uses MRI, ultrasound, and examination to identify which structures may be involved before recommending treatment. Treating Knee Arthritis in Dallas For decades, the conventional explana

By Deborah Westergaard, M.D. Dallas | Regen Experts Dallas & Plano Many patients come to my office after months—or years—of pursuing treatments designed primarily to reduce pain. Pain relief matters. But if your goal is to avoid surgery, preserve function, and maintain an active lifestyle, an important question must be asked: Are we treating pain, or are we identifying the structures responsible for the pain? For many patients, those are not the same thing. About Dr. Westerga

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Regen Experts | Dallas and Plano Short answer: Focusing only on cartilage may overlook other contributors to knee arthritis pain. The bone beneath cartilage, meniscus, ligaments, and joint lining can also affect symptoms and function. At Regen Experts in Dallas and Plano, Dr. Deborah Westergaard uses examination and imaging review to assess the whole joint before discussing appropriate treatment options. What If We Have Been Treating the Wrong Par

By Deborah Westergaard, M.D. Dallas | Regen Experts Dallas & Plano If I Could Go Back to 2008... If I could travel back to 2008, I would ask my younger self one simple question. "Should I have one more conversation before having hip surgery?" At that time, the procedures I perform today simply weren't available. The landmark intraosseous bone marrow concentrate research hadn't yet been published. Physicians weren't discussing subchondral bone as an important contributor to os

Knee Arthritis Dallas: Still active, but your knees are starting to dictate your life? Many high-performing people reach a point where they are told that knee replacement is the next logical step. For some, that may ultimately be true. But many patients wonder an important question first: "Have I explored every reasonable option before replacing my joint?" Recently, I saw a gentleman with a physically demanding job who had been informed that he was a candidate for knee replac

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Regen Experts | Dallas and Plano Short answer: Shoulder preservation begins with identifying the structures contributing to pain and impaired movement. Rotator cuff problems, instability, arthritis, muscle imbalance, and cervical spine issues may contribute in different combinations. At Regen Experts in Dallas and Plano, Dr. Deborah Westergaard evaluates shoulder structure, mechanics, and functional movement before discussing nonsurgical options f

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Regen Experts | Dallas and Plano Short answer: Hip preservation may be appropriate when an individualized evaluation identifies reasonable nonsurgical options. Bone condition, joint stability, surrounding soft tissues, and how weight passes through the hip influence treatment decisions. At Regen Experts in Dallas and Plano, Dr. Deborah Westergaard evaluates these structures and hip function before considering orthobiologic treatment for selected p

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Pain Experts If You’re Going on a Vegetarian Diet… Do You Shop at a Butcher? Let me ask you something. If you’ve decided to pursue a vegetarian diet…is the first place you go a butcher shop? Of course not. Not because the butcher is wrong.Not because meat is bad.But because the solution you’re seeking doesn’t match the training of the provider. The same principle applies to your joints and spine. If your goal is to avoid surgery in Dallas, the fir

By Deborah Westergaard, MD | Regen Experts | Dallas and Plano Short answer: Earlier evaluation may identify nonsurgical options for selected patients, but avoiding joint surgery cannot be guaranteed. Progressive joint damage and instability can narrow the available treatment choices. At Regen Experts in Dallas and Plano, Dr. Deborah Westergaard examines joint mechanics and stability to assess whether orthobiologic treatment may be appropriate. There Are Biological Points of N

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

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 Outdated Thinking About Cartilage Repair After 50 They told you cartilage can’t grow back after 50? Not exactly true. Many active adults over 50 have been told that once cartilage wears down, it’s gone forever as if aging shuts off the body’s repair switch. That’s outdated thinking. While cartilage turnover slows with age, modern studies reveal the joint environment can be reprogrammed toward protection and repair throu

And every morning: 8 miles. But here’s the problem no one is telling her — and no one is telling him, either (and many of our gentlemen patients deeply care about their wife’s vitality, even if they don’t know what to say): Running that far, that often, may be silently accelerating joint wear and aging the very tissues that give you the graceful, youthful movement you want to preserve. The Problem: Running Joint Damage After 60 — What’s Happening on the Inside? At Pain Exper

A year ago this July, I joined a club I never wanted to be part of the Hip Replacement Club. And while I would’ve traded nearly anything—to avoid it, the experience handed me something valuable: a stronger connection to my patients and a deeper understanding of their choices. It also gave me lemons. Which I’ve since turned into lemonade. Because nothing sharpens your insight into joint dysfunction quite like living it. And nothing motivates a physician quite like thinking, “T