Stem Cell Neck Pain Therapy in Los Angeles, CA

Marc Darrow, MD. JD.

I regularly see patients who have been told by another doctor that instead of Neck Pain Therapy in los angeles, they need a neck surgery to prevent the further degeneration of their cervical spine. Some of these patients are very frightened by what their doctor told them. Some were told that if their symptoms progress they could risk permanent damage to their ability to function maybe to the point of paralysis.

“I am worried if I do not get surgery my neck will get worse”

Research has strongly suggested that many patients decide on cervical fusion surgery because they fear a progression of their problem that will lead to permanent disability.  However, follow-up data on patients with degenerative disease of the upper (cervical) spinal vertebrae show little or no evidence of worsening degeneration over time. Recently, doctors published findings that suggested that the majority of these patients may be stable and do not develop progression of disease or catastrophic neurologic deficits.

The researchers identified 27 patients with cervical degenerative spondylolisthesis (a slipped disc causing nerve pressure) for inclusion in their study.(1)

Here is what they found. For many of you, this terminology may sound familiar and you may recognize that your MRI included many of these terms.

  • Eleven patients had cervical spondylolisthesis at C4-C5,
  • Nine at C3-C4,
  • Six at C5-C6,
  • and one at C2-C3.
  • Initially, 6 had anterolisthesis (disc forward displacement) and 21 had retrolisthesis (disc backward displacement)
  • At baseline, 3 of 6 patients with anterolisthesis and 7 of 21 patients with retrolisthesis had translation of more than 2 mm on dynamic views.
  • At baseline, 11 had no cervical symptoms, (This is a scenario I talk about often, MRI shows disc displacement, but the person shows no sign of pain or loss of motion. Should this person be scared into an unnecessary surgery?)
  • 8 had cervicalgia (sharp neck pain that is felt in back and shoulders)
  • 7 had radiculopathy (radiating pain into the elbows and hands)
  • and 1 had myelopathy. Myelopathy needs a surgical consultation as paralysis and incontinence are at risk.

Same patients, on average, seen more than three years later show limited or no progression of cervical spine disease

  • At the final visit, none of the anterolistheses or retrolistheses had progressed.
  • At the final visit, 7 of 10 patients with initial translation of more than 2 mm on dynamic views had no change.
  • Of 17 patients with less than 2 mm of initial dynamic motion, 3 patients progressed to have more than 2 mm of dynamic translation. All 3 of these had retrolisthesis initially. None had clinical worsening of symptoms at the final visit.

CONCLUSION:
The natural history of cervical degenerative anterolisthesis and retrolisthesis seems to be stable during 2 years to nearly 8 years. Although those with retrolisthesis seem to have a higher propensity to increase their subluxation, none experienced dislocation or neurological injury.

In June 2020, researchers (2)  cited the above research suggesting cervical spondylolisthesis patients typically have cervical spine compression from both the anterior and posterior aspects, have more levels of spinal cord compression, and receive surgery on a greater number of cervical levels that is more commonly performed with a posterior approach. Furthermore, while these patients experience a significantly lower than the improvement experienced by other degenerative cervical myelopathy patients without spondylolisthesis. Overall, these findings suggest that the presence of cervical spondylolisthesis may indicate a more advanced state of degenerative cervical myelopathy pathology and is more likely to result in a suboptimal surgical outcome.

Note this statement:

“It was notable that despite having this increased severity spectrum, cervical spondylolisthesis presented on average with a 5-month shorter duration of symptoms, and though not statistically significant, it could suggest that these patients may have a more precipitous (steep decline) course owing to potential instability. (The people of this study had sudden onset of degeneration), It was also notable that, on average, patients with cervical spondylolisthesis did not complain of significantly increased neck disability. This is despite the finding of a previous systematic review that neck pain is the first symptom to occur in most patients with degenerative spondylolisthesis.” But many went to surgery with suboptimal results.

Observation, rush to surgery NOT endorsed by researchers

Doctors at the Rothman Institute, Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals found: “With many surgeons expanding their indications for cervical spine surgery, the number of patients being treated operatively has increased. Unfortunately, the number of patients requiring revision procedures is also increasing. . .” (3)

What these researchers are saying in their study is that doctors have broadened the criteria for neck surgery so more can be justified. However, the literature is not keeping up with ways to help the increasing new group of failed neck surgery patients.

Compounding this is the always present rush to surgery spurred on by MRI. Doctors at Yale University suggested to doctors not to solely rely on MRI readings when evaluating patients for neck pain treatment:  “Physicians should be aware of inconsistencies inherent in the interpretation of cervical MRI findings and should be aware that some findings demonstrate lower agreement than others (in recommending surgery).” (4) This agrees with the first study showing a majority of patients with clearly defined MRI abnormalities who were not at all bothered by neck pain.

Do patients rush to neck surgery because they are tired of pain medications?

The use of opioids or painkillers among people who have been suffering with long-term neck pain sufferers is significant. We see patients all the time who come into the office with a gallon size baggie of current and past medications. What is worse is that many of these prescriptions are not helpful. This is when many patients decide on the surgery. Not because of fear of worsening condition, but rather, fear of opioid addiction and the side effects.

Use of painkillers after surgery is worse

Many people get a good benefit from a cervical spine surgical procedure. Some do not. For those who did not get benefit from the surgery and their physical conditioned worsened, the need and abuse of painkillers became that much worse. Doctors publishing in the medical journal Anesthesia & Analgesia (5) warn against theses abuses of prolonged pain-killer usage after surgery. They reported “Preoperative factors, including legitimate prescribed opioid use, self-perceived risk of addiction, and depressive symptoms each independently predicted more prolonged opioid use after surgery. Each of these factors was a better predictor of prolonged opioid use than postoperative pain duration or severity.”

The investigators of the study suggested that the patients felt or knew that they would be in great pain during the surgical recovery period and that other factors including depression added to this fear. Opioid addiction came easily. The prolonged opioid use after surgery made healing at the least, difficult.

Especially among the older patients

Published in the Archives of Internal Medicine (6) researchers suggested that prescribing opioids to older patients shortly after surgery resulted in long-term analgesic use. The researchers suggested while opioids can be beneficial, they are associated with significant adverse effects such as sedation, constipation and respiratory depression, and their long-term use can lead to physiologic tolerance and addiction.

Chronic neck and back leads to problems of pain management including over-medication. If you have suffered from long-standing pain, chronic prolonged pain surgery and you want to explore ways of finding alternatives to opioid use, let’s explore the possibilities of regenerative medicine.

Podcasts

Neck Pain Therapy in Los Angeles discussions 10/25/25

Cervical spine neck pain – occiput / sub occipital area

10/25/25

Neck injury – Whiplash – Concussions – TMJ

 

References

1 Park MS, Moon SH, Lee HM, Kim SW, Kim TH, Suh BK, Riew KD. The natural history of degenerative spondylolisthesis of the cervical spine with 2-to 7-year follow-up. Spine. 2013 Feb 15;38(4):E205-10.
2 Nouri A, Kato S, Badhiwala JH, Robinson M, Mejia Munne J, Yang G, Jeong W, Nasser R, Gimbel DA, Cheng JS, Fehlings MG. The influence of cervical spondylolisthesis on clinical presentation and surgical outcome in patients with DCM: analysis of a multicenter global cohort of 458 patients. Global Spine Journal. 2020 Jun;10(4):448-55.
3 Helgeson MD, Albert TJ. Surgery for Failed Cervical Spine Reconstruction. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2011 Nov 8. [Epub ahead of print]
4 Fu MC, Webb ML, Buerba RA, Neway WE, Brown JE, Trivedi M, Lischuk AW, Haims AH, Grauer JN. Comparison of agreement of cervical spine degenerative pathology findings in magnetic resonance imaging studies. The Spine Journal. 2016 Jan 1;16(1):42-8.
5 Carroll I, Barelka P, Wang CK, Wang BM, Gillespie MJ, McCue R, Younger JW, Trafton J, Humphreys K, Goodman SB, Dirbas F. A pilot cohort study of the determinants of longitudinal opioid use after surgery. Anesthesia & Analgesia. 2012 Sep 1;115(3):694-702.. A Pilot Cohort Study of the Determinants of Longitudinal Opioid Use After Surgery. Anesth Analg. 2012 Jun 22.
6 Wolf MS, King J, Jacobson K, Di Francesco L, Bailey SC, Mullen R, McCarthy D, Serper M, Davis TC, Parker RM. Risk of unintentional overdose with non-prescription acetaminophen products. Journal of general internal medicine. 2012 Dec;27(12):1587-93.