Regenerative medicine for back pain is often surrounded by hype, confusion, and mixed messages. In this episode, we take an evidence-based look at platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, and why it may offer a different approach than cortisone injections for carefully selected patients with disc-related low back pain.

You’ll learn how PRP is made from your own blood, why platelets and growth factors matter, and how PRP may help support tissue repair, inflammation control, collagen production, and healing responses inside or around painful spinal structures. We also explain why spinal discs are difficult to heal naturally because of their limited blood supply — and how PRP is designed to deliver concentrated biological signals directly to the area that may need them.

This episode compares PRP with traditional corticosteroid injections. While cortisone may provide faster short-term inflammation relief, PRP is intended to support a slower biologic healing response over weeks to months. For the right patient, that difference may matter when the goal is not just temporary symptom control, but supporting longer-term spine function.

We also discuss discogenic low back pain, intradiscal PRP, epidural PRP for radiculopathy, stem cell therapy, patient selection, realistic timelines, and why regenerative treatments should never be presented as miracle cures or dismissed without context.

At Vertrae® in Dayton, Ohio, Dr. Kamal Woods uses an evidence-first, MotionFirst™ approach to determine whether PRP, conservative care, interventional pain management, minimally invasive spine surgery, or another targeted treatment may be most appropriate.

Visit Vertrae.com to request your MotionFirst™ evaluation.