Pain is a complicated and often debilitating medical problem that can significantly impact your physical and mental well-being.
If you’re suffering from chronic back and neck pain, chances are you find it challenging to do a lot of basic activities, such as; playing around with the kids or taking your dog on an evening walk in the neighborhood.
We understand the challenges of living with chronic back and neck pain; that is why we’ve put together this article to help you find the best pain management doctors in Florida.
According to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), Interventional Pain Management is a discipline of medicine devoted to diagnosing and treating pain-related disorders mainly with the application of interventional techniques in managing chronic, persistent pain, independently or in conjunction with other forms of treatment.
While pain management can offer temporary relief, it’s important to note that it is a treatment, not a cure. Spine surgeons, primary care doctors, and neurologists often refer patients with back and neck pain to pain management doctors, who provide treatments such as nerve blocks, epidurals, and radiofrequency ablation. However, these treatments may not provide a long-term solution, and patients may return for treatment repeatedly without fully resolving the underlying issue.
Deuk Spine offers pain management as part of our comprehensive approach to treating back and neck pain, but we believe that a more permanent solution is often necessary. Our team of experts focuses on identifying the root cause of the pain and offers minimally invasive procedures to cure it rather than just treating the symptoms.
While pain management may offer temporary relief, our approach at Deuk Spine is to provide a permanent solution to your pain. Our procedures are designed to help patients return to their daily lives with little to no reliance on medications by addressing the underlying issue.
Here are some of the best pain management doctors to see in Florida:
Location: Brevard County, Florida
One of the physicians at Deuk Spine Institute, Dr. Bharat C. Patel‘s credentials include board certifications in sports medicine, physiatry, pain medicine, electrodiagnostic medicine, and interventional pain management. Fewer than one in 10,000 physicians nationwide are quintuple board certified. The highly respected Becker’s Orthopedic, Spine, and Pain Management Review included Dr. Patel on their published list: The Best Pain Management Physicians in America. Becker’s has also named Dr. Patel to their exclusive list of the “12 Great Physicians in Florida.”
In 2014, Dr. Patel was chosen by the Chairman and CEO of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians to serve as an examiner for the national American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians examinations. Dr. Patel scored the highest of all physicians in the country when he completed the examination.
Dr. Patel graduated from Smt. N.H.L. Municipal Medical College in Ahmedabad, India, with a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery. The degree is the equivalent of a Doctor of Medicine degree in the United States. Following that, he completed an internship in surgery at Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester in New Rochelle, New York, a residency at New York University School of Medicine, and a fellowship in interventional pain management in Clearwater, Florida. Dr. Patel is a U.S. citizen and a registered Florida state medical care practitioner.
Dr. Patel performs both non-interventional and interventional spine pain management therapies. He treats arthritis of the spine and facet joint pain with injections for pain.
Patients travel from Orlando, South Florida, and the Space Coast to get treated by Dr. Patel because of his dedication to their health and well-being.
Schedule an appointment with Dr. Bharat Patel at Deuk Spine Institute
Location: Miami-Dade County and Aventura, Florida
Dr. Anijar is a board-certified anesthesiologist with a specialization in interventional pain management. He trained with many of the world’s leading experts in interventional pain treatment. He has conducted hundreds of spinal cord stimulator and peripheral nerve stimulator implants and has a strong interest in neuromodulation therapy.
Dr. Anijar attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he studied Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology. He studied biomechanics, surgical oncology, and medical informatics at the University of South Florida in Tampa and published numerous research papers in these fields. He did his residency at the University of Florida in Gainesville, and then an interventional pain management fellowship at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Location: Palm Beach County, Florida
Dr. Ricardo Leano is a pain management and regenerative medicine specialist. Dr. Leano moved to the United States to continue his medical training after earning his medical degree at Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá, Colombia. At Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, he acquired a medical degree and completed his internship and residency training. He also graduated with honors from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, with a Master of Business Administration with a focus in health care and a recognition award for academic excellence. He went on to get his board certification in healthcare administration.
He enjoys motorcycles, boats, vehicles, playing guitar, and listening to classical music in addition to assisting patients. He also donates his medical abilities when and where they are needed, and collects funds to help communities affected by natural catastrophes.
Location: Hillsborough County, Florida
Dr. Maulik Bhalani is board-certified by The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Board of Medical Specialties, with specialties in interventional pain medicine, physical medicine, and rehabilitation.
He received his medical degree from Creighton University in Omaha, then went on to the University of South Florida to finish a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation and a fellowship in interventional pain medicine.
Dr. Bhalani is a member of several professional and regional societies dedicated to pain medicine, physical medicine, and rehabilitation, and he currently works as a clinical associate professor and faculty member for the University of South Florida’s pain medicine fellowship and Department of Neurology.
His strong belief in lifelong learning has led him to seek more training and education in the most up-to-date spine and pain management technology, attending pain conferences around the country and bringing the most cutting-edge procedures back to his patients.
Dr. Bhalani enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, and teaching residents and fellow surgeons at the University of South Florida when he is not assisting his patients.
Location: Orange County, Florida
Dr. Rafizad is a pain management specialist who is board-certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine. He is a trained, compassionate pain management specialist who provides state-of-the-art care to patients in the Irvine and Fountain Valley, CA, areas for the relief of acute and chronic pain.
Dr. Rafizad did his internship and residency at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, then went on to UCLA Medical Center for a fellowship in pain management. He treats patients at the West Los Angeles Veterans Medical Center, where he is an attending staff physician for pain management and anesthesia.
Dr. Rafizad is dedicated to providing patients with specialized care that is tailored to their specific needs in order to provide long-term, substantial pain relief. His practice is now accepting new patients and accepts the majority of major medical insurance plans.
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Dr. Michael Willens is a Board Certified Anesthesiologist and Pain Management specialist who is dedicated to becoming a “steward of healing.” He founded The Advanced Pain Management Clinic in order to restore the traditional values of medical practice.
Dr. Michael attended Michigan State University and majored in Psychology, Philosophy, Ethics, and Pre-Medical Sciences. He also graduated from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine with a medical degree.
He received his specialist training in Anesthesiology and Pain Management at the world-famous Cleveland Clinic Foundation after completing his intensive medical internship at the famed Detroit Henry Ford and Riverview Hospitals. He also studied Acupuncture at the university level.
In addition to being a husband and father of four sons, He is a professional photographer, an amateur astronomer, a musician, an artist, and a philosopher. He’s also a member of a number of prestigious medical organizations and a frequent speaker at Florida Osteopathic Medical Association conferences.
Location: Pinellas County, Florida
At his office, Alleviate Pain, Raviinder S. Parmar, helps his patients find relief. He employs the most recent advances in pain medication. He is board-certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine that provides comprehensive, compassionate care to the men and women of Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg, Florida, and the surrounding towns.
Dr. Parmar grew up in Naples, Florida, and attended the University of Florida for his undergraduate studies. He moved on to Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia to get his medical degree, where he acquired a passion for assisting individuals suffering from pain to find relief.
At the prominent Rothman Institute in Philadelphia, he did research and published multiple papers and chapters. After that, he did a surgical intern year at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago and an anesthesiology residency at Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Location: Lee County, Florida
Dr. Daitch received his undergraduate degree from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster and then went on to Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to obtain his Medical Doctorate.
He’s also been a strong supporter of attempts to educate the public and mentor his peers.
Dr. Daitch was one of just 150 physicians worldwide to receive Board Certification in Pain Management and Pain Medicine. One of the reasons The Lee County Medical Society gave Dr. Daitch the 2016 Physician Award for Citizenship & Community Service was because of his commitment to quality in-patient care that reaches far beyond southwest Florida.
He has been the ConcertMaster of the Gulf Coast Symphony for two decades and has played since the age of five. He’s also a judge at the annual Edison Science Fair in Fort Myers, and he encourages kids to explore science.
Location: Lakeland, Florida
Dr. Jassal graduated from the University of California, San Diego, with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He then went on to earn his Doctor of Medicine degree at Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica, West Indies, before moving on to the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in Great Neck, New York, to complete his physical medicine and rehabilitation residency.
At the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa, Florida, he completed his medical education with a pain medicine fellowship.
Dr. Jassal is board-certified in both pain medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation by the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He uses his pain medicine expertise to assist people in managing even the most difficult pain. Dr. Jassal treats cancer pain, neurological pain, and musculoskeletal pain, as well as chronic and acute pain.
Dr. Jassal shares his knowledge with others while he isn’t treating patients. He is an assistant professor in the University of Central Florida’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, as well as an assistant clinical professor in the University of South Florida’s Pain Medicine Fellowship. In addition, he is actively involved in research to find new, minimally invasive approaches to manage spinal pain.
Location: Volusia County, Florida
Dr. Richard C. Sims is an interventional pain management physician who is board certified. He brings to The Orthopedic Clinic a variety of services, including diagnostic methods to aid in the surgical evaluation of patients, innovative pain treatment techniques, and the insertion of implantable pain control devices.
Dr. Richard Sims graduated from Florida State University College of Medicine with a medical degree. Following his M.D. He completed an anesthesiology residency and a fellowship in multidisciplinary pain management at the University of Florida’s Department of Anesthesiology.
He obtained multiple scholarships and awards during his undergraduate and medical degrees, including Chronic Pain Outstanding Resident of the Year. He has given presentations to fellow physicians across the country about his pain management studies and publications. Dr. Sims sees patients from all over the country at The Orthopedic Clinic.
He enjoys spending time with his family, swimming, tennis, and traveling in his spare time. He calls himself a “foodie” who enjoys trying out new places.
Location: Seminole County, Florida
Dr. Mauna is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist who also practices pain medicine.She specializes in treating neck and low back pain with interventional procedures and spinal cord stimulation.
After completing a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency at the University of South Florida and a fellowship in Interventional Pain Management at Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Mauna joined the Pain Medicine Group.
She has specialized and extensive training in chronic pain issues, and she employs interventional and advanced treatments such as stem cell therapy to provide the greatest pain management options to clients in Central and South Florida.
Location: Sarasota County, Florida
The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation officially certified Dr. Paul Satia to practice pain medicine. He graduated from the University of Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with a medical degree. He began his physical medicine and rehabilitation studies at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, New York, followed by five years of specialist training at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, including a pain medicine fellowship. Dr. Satia joined Kennedy-White Orthopaedic Center in 2014 after practicing pain medicine at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
Dr. Satia treats patients with acute and chronic pain using both interventional and non-interventional pain treatment. He also has a wide experience that allows him to use a multi-modal approach to treat diseases based on his expertise and training. He belongs to numerous pain management associations and has written over a dozen articles about pain treatment and rehabilitation.
Dr. Satia is proficient in Spanish, Hindi, and Punjabi, and in his spare time, he enjoys tennis, basketball, foreign travel, and constructing computers. Sarasota Magazine rated him a Top Doctor from 2018 to 2021.
When choosing the best pain management doctors in Florida, there are a few things you have to look out for.
When choosing a pain management doctor, experience is an essential factor to consider. This is because an extensive background in interventional pain management is essential when dealing with chronic back and neck pain.
Finding an experienced and qualified pain management doctor will increase your chances of getting the proper diagnosis and treatment for your chronic back and neck pain. An experienced pain management doctor must have performed the various procedures/treatments for an extensive amount of time, resulting in:
When looking for a pain management doctor to treat your chronic back and neck pain, it is best to choose a doctor who specializes in the type of treatment you need. This is where fellowship training comes in.
There are two categories of doctors, general physicians, and specialists. If you’re suffering from chronic back and neck pain, your best bet is usually to seek out a specialist. A specialist usually spends years of training and education focusing on a specific aspect of medicine.
Fellowship training is essential to becoming a specialist physician. During the training period, the learning physician (known as the fellow) follows a specialist closely to train in a subspecialty, which in this case would be interventional pain management.
Being a specialist is a highly coveted route in the medical field, and many medical students want to be specialists, but only a few are chosen.
Typically, only the best and the brightest are picked from each medical program to be fellowship-trained.
So if you need a pain management doctor to treat your chronic back and neck pain, make sure that your doctor is a fellowship-trained specialist.
Board Certification is an extra step taken by pain management doctors who want to prove that they know the latest development in their field. It is taken by doctors who demonstrate great commitment to their specialty and lifelong commitment to learning. Board-Certification requires further, extensive specialty-specific training.
One of the bodies responsible for providing Board Certification to pain management doctors is The American Board of Interventional Pain Physicians (ABIPP). They maintain the highest standards of practice of interventional pain management. They do this by encouraging education and training in interventional pain management, including various interventional techniques, alone or in conjunction with other treatment modalities.
Pain management doctors who are board-certified attend training and assessment beyond what is required of them or their peers. They also work to improve the care they deliver to their patients.
Board Certification is not a legal requirement to practice. But pain management doctors who spend their resources, including their time and energy, to get board-certified are showing their commitment to being the absolute best in their respective fields.
How comfortable are you with your doctor on a scale of 1-10?
This is a question you should always ask yourself. If you’re suffering from chronic back and neck pain and need a pain management doctor, you need to make sure that the doctor you choose makes you feel safe and comfortable.
When choosing a pain management doctor, you need someone who can answer your questions quickly, honestly, and in the least technical manner.
You should ask yourself the following questions if you want to know if you’re comfortable with your doctor:
It is usual for people to look up information on doctors, dentists, and other medical services on the internet before engaging their services. It’s estimated that over 74.6 percent of people do this.
Patient reviews on the internet help you to know how good of a service a pain management doctor provides to his patient.
To ensure you get an authentic review about a surgeon, avoid their websites (as most website reviews are carefully curated). You should go on google and youtube and do a simple search on the surgeon, and various reviews from independent sources would pop out.
Also, you’ll find patient reviews on forums like Reddit or quora. The more negative reviews a surgeon has, the more you should consider staying away from them.
Once you have your list of pain management doctors, the next step is consultation.
Consultations are essential because they allow you to ask your pain management doctor all the necessary questions and help you understand the problem, available treatment options, and the next steps.
Chronic pain can be overwhelming. This is why you should be as well informed as possible.
If a pain management doctor dismisses your need to have a consultation, that’s usually a sign for you to find a new doctor. Pain management doctors who care about your wellbeing will take extra time to examine you carefully.
During your consultation, you should expect the following things
Also, during the consultation, these are questions you can ask to help you get a better understanding of the situation:
If you’re not comfortable with the treatment recommendation, or the doctors’ services, it’s important for you to get a second opinion.
Getting a second opinion helps you to make an informed decision regarding the best treatment for your chronic pain. You’ll be able to assess the benefits and risks against other alternatives.
When treating chronic back and neck pain, many patients are sent to pain management doctors by their primary care physicians, neurologists, or spine surgeons. However, pain management doctors can really only offer treatments that temporarily alleviate symptoms–they don’t cure the cause. This can sometimes result in people spending large amounts of money over many years without addressing the root cause of their pain.
At Deuk Spine, we understand this frustration and are committed to offering a different approach. Our team is dedicated to not only alleviating pain but also curing it. In fact, we offer the only permanent cure for disc pain in the world through our Deuk Laser Disc Repair procedure. Disc issues, such as bulging, ruptured, herniated, or flipped discs, account for 90% of back and neck pain cases, and surgery is often the only way to fully address the underlying issue.
We also offer the Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy, a permanent cure for facet pain, which accounts for the remaining 10% of neck and back pain cases. Unlike other treatments offered at pain management clinics, such as radiofrequency ablation which only provide temporary relief, our procedure eliminates pain–for good.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair is the most advanced laser spine surgery in the world. It is used as an alternative to dangerous invasive surgeries like total disc replacement and spinal fusion.
This revolutionary procedure was developed by Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, a renowned neuro-spine surgeon and a true pioneer in minimally invasive, laser, and endoscopic back and neck pain treatment.
Deuk Laser Disc Repair is a form of endoscopic spine surgery performed in a state-of-the-art outpatient surgery center under sedation while the patient relaxes. This procedure does not compromise or weaken the health and integrity of the spine.
In over 15 years of performing this procedure and with over 1,300 patients treated, there has been a 95% success rate with no complications in any patient.
To get started, Deuk Laser Disc Repair requires a very small incision, less than a quarter inch long. A cylindrical rod called a dilator is inserted in the small opening to gently spread the muscle to create a small passage and guide through which the surgery is performed endoscopically. The tip of the dilator is advanced into the symptomatic disc through the tear in the annulus where the herniation originates, and a tube called the retractor slides over the dilator and is carefully positioned into the painful disc. The rest of the entire Deuk laser disc repair surgery will occur inside this narrow tube.
To access the spine, an endoscopic camera is inserted into the tubular retractor to allow the surgeon to guide the laser inside each symptomatic disc. This process ensures that bones and surrounding tissues are not damaged, unlike traditional spinal fusions, microdiscectomy, and artificial discs.
The Holmium YAG laser used in the Deuk laser disc repair is manipulated accurately with millimeter precision under endoscopic visualization to remove only painful inflammatory tissue from the disc. The laser is precisely used to remove damaged disc material that is causing the pain.
Once the laser has removed the inflamed painful part of the annular tear and the herniated nucleus pulposus, the endoscope and tubular retractor are removed, leaving less than one-quarter inch incision in the skin, which can be closed with a single stitch and a band-aid.
The total time for the Deuk laser disc repair surgery is one hour, and the patient is in recovery for about 45 to 60 minutes before being released to go home. Hospitalization is not needed and the risks of hospital-based surgery are avoided.
Also, with the Deuk laser disc repair, there’s no loss of normal movement, and the flexibility of the disc and joint is preserved. With endoscopic Deuk laser disc repair there is no fusion, metal implants or biological material added to the spine. The procedure is all natural allowing your body to heal the herniated or bulging disc itself.
After the surgery, the Deuk laser disc repair patient is back home, enjoying life with a speedy recovery allowing normal activities without pain. Another advantage of Deuk laser disc repair is that no opioids or powerful narcotic painkillers are needed after surgery. Open spine surgeries like microdiscectomy, laminectomy, artificial disc replacement and fusion all cause so much internal trauma that patients are in severe pain after surgery and must take painkillers for weeks after their surgery but not with Deuk laser disc repair.
At Deuk Spine, we understand the toll that chronic back and neck pain can take on your quality of life. We know that pain management doctors can offer temporary relief, but we also know that this approach can end up costing patients over thousands of dollars out of pocket over years and years of pain–without ever fixing the underlying issue.
That’s why we’re different. We offer a permanent solution to back and neck pain through our cutting-edge procedures: Deuk Laser Disc Repair and Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy. These procedures have been developed and refined by our team of world-class spine specialists, and they are the only permanent cures for disc and facet pain in the world.
If you are suffering from back or neck pain, send us your MRI scan for a free review.
We have our team on standby ready to create a customized plan to get you out of pain. Ready to live your life pain free?
