At the Spine Center at Miami Neuroscience Institute, we bring together physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists to diagnose and treat the source of your back, neck or spine pain.

The first step to helping your back or neck pain is to find the source of the problem. Our physical medicine and rehabilitation team then works to ease your pain and restore your function – without surgery. We treat your pain with less-invasive treatments and rehabilitation therapy.

When surgery is needed, we coordinate your care with the specialists at Miami Neuroscience Institute.

What back, neck and spine conditions are treated at the Spine Center at Miami Neuroscience Institute?

Our team uses minimally invasive and non-surgical treatments for spine and back conditions. At the Spine Center at Miami Neuroscience Institute, we treat:

  • Arthritis
  • Back injuries
  • Back pain
  • Bulging disc
  • Degenerative spine disease
  • Herniated disc
  • Neck pain
  • Neuromuscular disease
  • Nerve damage
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Osteoporosis
  • Pediatric spine
  • Scoliosis
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Spinal injuries
  • Spine deformities
  • Spine pain
  • Strains and sprains

How are back, neck and spine pain and conditions diagnosed?

After a comprehensive exam, our specialists use advanced diagnostic tools to detect bone, muscle or nerve damage. We use imaging tests, such as X-rays, CT scans and MRIs, as well as electromyography and conductive nerve studies, to measure your muscle and nerve response.

What treatments are offered at the Spine Center at Miami Neuroscience Institute?

When treating back, neck and spine conditions, we treat the person, not just the problem. Knowing how you injured your back and your lifestyle is just as important as treating your injury. Most musculoskeletal pain can be treated without surgery.

The comprehensive team of specialists at the Spine Center at Miami Neuroscience Institute use an array of treatments, including:

  • Lifestyle modification
  • Medication management
  • Nutritional counseling
  • Rehabilitation therapy, including physical therapy and occupational
  • Osteopathic manual medicine treatment
  • Trigger point injections
  • Joint injections
  • Ultrasound-guided injections
  • Electrodiagnostics (EMG and nerve conduction studies)
  • Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections
  • Epidural and facet joint injections
  • Implantable spinal cord stimulators
  • Intrathecal pump to deliver pain medication

If we determine surgery is needed or non-surgical treatments do not relieve pain and restore function, you are given quick access to the experienced neurosurgeons at Miami Neuroscience Institute.

 Our Approach To Spine Care

Our Approach To Spine Care

When you are in pain, it is hard to imagine you can regain function again. Our team can intervene quickly to treat your pain through non-surgical, less invasive treatments. At the Spine Center at Miami Neuroscience Institute, you can expect:

  • A focus on maintaining the lifestyle and activity level you have come to expect.
  • An individualized and supportive treatment plan that can help you avoid a recurrence of your back pain.
Spine Care Resources

Spine Care Resources

Our team believes in a holistic approach when treating neck & back pain. We are equipped with ample resources to guide you through your journey ahead to a pain-free life.

"I instantly had just such a warm feeling from Dr. Villoch and I needed someone. I am terrified about this and I need someone to hold my hand and I felt so comfortable with her. Christmas Eve was the first time I went to the pool down in Key Largo. I got in the pool and swam a kilometer, 40 lengths, with zero pain. Zero pain and I was thrilled."

Who benefits from this spine care program?

Whether you are experiencing an acute episode of pain, landing you in your primary care physician’s office, an emergency room or urgent care center, or have been suffering with chronic pain, we can help.

As with any condition, it’s best if our specialists see you at the first sign of back, neck or spine pain to prevent the development of a chronic condition that requires long-term pain management. At the first sign of injury or pain, we can find the source and create a comprehensive treatment plan.

If you’ve been dealing with pain for some time, we’ll assess your condition utilizing a thorough evaluation and physical examination.

Photo of Justin Mathew Thottam, D.O.
"We are born with only one spine. So, the best way to take care of it is by preventing anything bad from happening to it. Try everything you can. You can be eating healthy, losing weight, being active, doing home exercises on a daily basis, or even twice or three times a day, if possible."
 

 

Meet the Team

Led by medical director Ronald Tolchin, D.O., our team includes Board-certified physiatrists who specialize in physical medicine and rehabilitation treatments for neurological conditions. We also work closely with physical therapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, psychologists, nurses and physician assistants who are highly skilled in treating neurological injuries, musculoskeletal and related conditions.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Excess weight is a contributor to back pain. To protect your back, it’s important to maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI) — a measurement that uses your height and weight to measure your body fat. Excess weight puts more stress on the back. For example, if you are 30 pounds overweight, it’s like carrying a 30-pound weight around all day. That can fatigue your muscles and weaken your back.

  • Core strengthening exercises can contribute to improved spine health. By strengthening your core, you essentially strengthening the muscles around your spine. When those muscles get weak, the more that stress goes onto the lumbar spine or the cervical spine. And that can accelerate the degeneration of discs (which can result in spinal stenosis, or the narrowing of the spinal canal). Muscle weakness also allows for arthritis to advance.

  • If the patient has neurological deficits, such as weakness, pain, burning, tingling down their leg, sensory loss, or reflex changes they should seek medical attention and get imaging done immediately. If the patient loses the ability to bring up their foot or ankle when walking they must get an MRI as soon as possible. If the patient is losing weight unexpectedly, having trouble sleeping, and/or experiencing fever and chills, they must seek medical attention and get imaging done immediately.