After undergoing multiple spine surgeries himself, Joel Proskewitz founded the SpineXchange to offer educational materials for others who are dealing with back surgery or general back pain.  On this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Lakhia sits in the hot seat as he is interviewed by expert guest Joel for the SpineXchange. Joel and Dr. Lakhia cover advice on many different aspects of back care.  Both Joel and Dr. Lakhia found a passion for spinal care and education through personal experiences. For Dr. Lakhia, it was his exposure to osteopathic medicine that included over 300 hours of ha ..read more

Even with their in-depth medical training, doctors can brush off accidents and deny the possibility of a lumbar issue. It’s not until the pain persists or worsens that they come to terms with the possibility of having a longer-term injury.  Doctors can even experience a sense of shame about having a spine problem while being a spine expert.  On this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia invites his colleague and friend Dr. Joseph Cheatle, a neurosurgeon at Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates, to discuss the personal challenges that he has faced with low back pain.  ..read more

What happens when the doctor becomes the patient? In the first episode in this new series, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia discusses personal back care journeys with some of his esteemed colleagues. On this episode, he talks with Lindsey Howard, PA-C, a physician assistant in the physiatry department at Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Care. Her spine care journey began with scoliosis.  When she was 12, she was diagnosed with scoliosis during a routine school screening for the condition. Her spinal curve was 40 degrees and quickly progressed to 72 degrees. Her doctor recommended surgery or, he told her ..read more

As non-urgent medical procedures slowed during the height of COVID in 2020, some docs faced a lot of stress. Vince Rossi, MD, took advantage of his more-open schedule to get an MBA.  So, why did Dr. Rossi want to pursue another degree after becoming a successful neurosurgeon? He wanted to better understand the health care system in which he works, believing that knowing the business world would benefit both his patients and his practice. That desire to benefit his patients led him to do a year of his residency in Australia. He was able to see a higher volume of arthroplasty procedures in ..read more

You get hurt, and your instinct is to blame the injury itself, right? For Dr. Elizabeth Yurth, it’s a much broader picture than just the injury.  While Dr. Yurth got her start in orthopedics and sports medicine, she took a pivot about 15 years into her career. She started looking at ways to keep patients out of her office, rather than coming back in.  “I was patching people back together, throwing them back in the fire, and they're back a month later,” she says of her patients. “So I started to ask, could we do better? Could we make people healthier? That way, they could actually hea ..read more

As a holistic nutritionist, as well as a health and wellness coach, Heather Wolcott understands concerns about all-or-nothing lifestyles and dietary changes. Instead, Heather believes in promoting a well-rounded lifestyle — and understanding that nothing is forever.  On this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia and his guest, functional health coach Heather Wolcott, talk about nutrition and its effect on health, wellness, and even pain. Much of their discussion focuses around food elimination diets. Heather understands that the term “elimination diet” can be daunting for some peopl ..read more

Nutritional supplements are a recurring topic in discussions between doctors and patients. Many people incorporate supplements into the daily routine when they are looking to enhance their well-being or cure an ailment. But how do you know if you’re using the right nutritional supplements?  On this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia and Dr. Tod Cooperman, MD discuss how to choose effective supplements, and what factors you should consider when looking to add supplements to your diet.  Dr. Cooperman is the president, founder, and editor-in-chief of ConsumerLab.com, which is d ..read more

Despite its limited range of movement, the sacroiliac joint is prone to instability and is often a source of back pain in patients.  On this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia and Tanner Holden, PT from Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates discuss the SI joint itself, some common causes of SI joint pain, and what the latest science has to offer for management.  Patients can experience SI joint pain during or after pregnancy, pain from the joint itself, or autoimmune pain. However, diagnosing SI joint pain is rarely straightforward because medical imaging is not typical ..read more

If your back has been hurting and you haven’t been able to find relief, or you have chronic recurrent arthritic pain, it may be time to explore new options.  On this episode of Back Talk Doc, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia hosts a solo episode to reframe how patients should be thinking about osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease. He proposes that patients move away from thinking of these conditions as the inevitable result of wear and tear, and instead look at them through the lens of metabolic dysfunction.  Using a framework focusing on food and supplementation options, Dr. Lakhia discuss ..read more

Battlefield acupuncture, a form of ear acupuncture, is well-known in military medicine. It’s now making its way to the civilian population due to ease of use, minimal risk involved, and effectiveness in relieving pain. John Howard, a clinician and academic, is a leading authority on this revolutionary technique. Upon earning his degree in acupuncture, he completed a five-year fellowship with the father of battlefield acupuncture himself, Dr. Richard Niemtzow. John joins Back Talk Doc host, Dr. Sanjiv Lakhia, to discuss battlefield acupuncture’s history, how it works, as well as some of the pro ..read more