Joseph G. Valdez, MD

Back and Joint Pain

According to the American Chiropractic Association, back pain is one of the most common reasons for missed work and the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office. Aching joints can be just as bothersome. The popular solution, surgery, can take a minor injury and turn it into chronic pain. Dr. Joseph Valdez, author of "Healing Joint and Back Injuries" joins the show to discuss alternatives to surgery for back pain.

Joseph G. Valdez, MD is the author of Healing Back and Joint Injuries. He is board certified by the American Board of Family Practice and board eligible in Occupational and Preventative Medicine. Dr. Valdez’s specialties include: Family Practice, Preventative and Occupational Medicine, and the treatment of joint and back pain using prolotherapy.

After completing his residency in family practice, Dr. Valdez performed a residency in occupational and preventative medicine, a greatly underutilized specialty. Currently operating a family practice just outside of Houston, Texas (Pasadena, Texas), Dr. Valdez is one of the few physicians who recognize and promote the benefits of prolotherapy, an alternative to surgery for joint and back injuries. Prolotherapy involves a series of injections of non-pharmacological solutions (often dextrose, a sugar solution). The injections restore cartilage and strengthen ligaments and tendons. In his experience, prolotherapy is frequently able to treat the underlying cause of back or joint pain.

Dr. Valdez is a member of the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. He has hospital affiliations at Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital in Houston and Columbia Bayshore Hospital in Pasadena. After Dr. Valdez received his pre-medical education from Texas A&M University, he continued his education at the University of Monterey in Monterey, Nuevo León, Mexico, New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y., St. Josephs Hospital in Yonkers, N.Y. and the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. He also obtained a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology.

Dr. Derrick DeSilva

8 / 6 / 2009