A method of treating discogenic back pain in a patient includes the steps
of acquiring an image of at least a portion of the patient's spine,
locating the spinal disc causing the back pain, and identifying a
treatment volume encompassing at least a portion of the spinal disc. The
method further includes prescribing a radiation dose to be delivered to
the treatment volume, providing a radiation therapy machine, positioning
the patient in the radiation therapy machine, programming the radiation
therapy machine to deliver the radiation dose to the treatment volume,
and delivering the radiation dose to the treatment volume.