Conservative care first
Most back, neck and joint pain improves with time, activity, physical therapy and simple self-care. We begin there whenever it is safe to do so, and we explain what you can do at home to help, from walking and core exercises to sleep and stress skills.
Stepped care, one step at a time
When symptoms continue, we add treatments in a logical order. Each step builds on what we learned from the one before:
- Self-care and lifestyle: activity, posture, sleep, weight and stress.
- Physical therapy and medicines: a guided exercise program and medicines that are safe for you.
- Injections and nerve blocks: image-guided treatments that may relieve pain and help confirm its source.
- Minimally invasive procedures: options such as radiofrequency ablation, MILD, Intracept, kyphoplasty, SI joint fusion and spinal cord stimulation for selected patients.
- Surgical evaluation: when imaging and symptoms point to a problem that surgery may address.
Not everyone needs every step, and some urgent problems skip straight to surgical evaluation. Each condition page on our site shows its own treatment path.
A multidisciplinary team
GSMC brings interventional pain management, physical medicine and rehabilitation, sports medicine, orthopaedics, rheumatology and spine surgery together. Because our physicians work as one group, your care can move between specialties without starting over.
Shared decisions
We explain what we see on your exam and imaging, the options that fit, the likely benefits and the risks, including the option of waiting. You decide with us. If you have been told you need surgery, we can also give you a second opinion.
Where procedures take place
Many injections and nerve blocks are done in an office procedure suite. GSMC has its own surgery center: procedures that are appropriate for outpatient care may be performed at GSMC’s surgery center, and others are done in a hospital. Your physician will tell you where your procedure would take place and why. Call 732-202-3000 with questions.
This page is general patient education and does not replace advice from your own clinician. Individual results vary.