PRP for degenerative disc disease · Facet arthropathy · St. Louis
The disc is where it hurts.
It is not why it hurts.
PRP for degenerative disc disease places concentrated platelets from your own blood into the painful disc (intradiscal PRP) or into arthritic facet joints. First, test numbing shots (diagnostic blocks) confirm which one is causing the pain. At Regen.MD in St. Louis we pair it with fixing the metabolic terrain that starves the disc, so the injection has something to work with. For many worn-disc cases it is an alternative to fusion.
Find the generator first
Low back pain from a worn spine usually comes from one of two places: the disc itself, or the small facet joints behind it. They feel similar and show up together on MRI. Diagnostic blocks, numbing one structure and watching what the pain does, tell them apart. Modic changes on the MRI add a third possibility, the bone at the edge of the disc.
Why discs wear out
A disc has one of the poorest blood supplies in the body. It lives on what seeps in from the bone above and below. High blood sugar, insulin resistance and chronic inflammation choke that supply and harm the disc’s own repair cells. Smoking narrows it further. Years of sitting load the same discs in the same posture. Mechanics alone do not explain why two people with the same job have different spines.
Intradiscal PRP
Using live X-ray (fluoroscopy), platelets are placed into the center of the disc confirmed as painful. The aim is less pain and better function, not a new disc on the next MRI. We do not promise regrowth. The full protocol is in Intradiscal PRP: treating the disc as biology.
Facet joint PRP
When blocks point to the facet joints, PRP goes into those joints and the ligaments around them. A 2025 systematic review gave PRP a moderate recommendation for facet joint pain. Facet arthropathy and regenerative options covers what that evidence shows.
Before you agree to a fusion
Fusion stops motion at one level and shifts the load to the next. That is why adjacent segment disease has its own name. True instability, tumor and nerve emergencies still call for surgery. A worn disc on its own usually does not. And shots that only quiet a nerve are not the same as treating the source. That is the reason epidurals stop working.
Not sure this is your problem? Take the 60-second candidacy check: am I a candidate?. Related: Cervical radiculopathy treatment without surgery.
Questions patients ask
What lifestyle changes help degenerative disc disease pain?
Walk every day, which pumps nutrients into the disc. Stop smoking. Build trunk and hip strength. And lower insulin and inflammation through what you eat and how you sleep. These are part of the treatment plan, not aftercare.
Is degenerative disc disease serious?
It is common, and most people with it never need surgery. It becomes serious when it causes progressive weakness, numbness in the groin, or bladder or bowel changes. Those need emergency evaluation.
Can PRP regenerate a disc?
PRP is used to reduce pain and improve function by changing the environment inside and around the disc. We do not promise that a degenerated disc will look new on imaging.
Is PRP better than an epidural for back pain?
They do different jobs. An epidural steroid calms an inflamed nerve for a while. PRP targets the disc or joint that is causing the pain. Which one fits depends on what the test blocks show. Herniated disc: is surgery really your only option?