Sciatica is defined by two major symptoms: low back pain and sharp pain that shoots down one leg. By the time you experience the radiating leg pain, a spinal condition has pinched the sciatic nerve in your lower spine, causing nerve inflammation and damage. Richard B. Kim, MD, frequently helps patients...
Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor diagnosed in adults. Though it’s usually found after age 65, these tumors are increasingly diagnosed in adults younger than 40. At any age, nothing is more important than connecting with a skilled neurosurgeon like Richard B. Kim, MD, who specializes in glioblastoma...
Spinal stenosis is different for each person. Some have the condition and never experience a symptom, while others end up with such severe pain they’re forced to limit or stop their daily activities. You should never give in to the pain caused by spinal stenosis. Even if your symptoms don’t improve...
Chronic back pain drains your energy and steals your quality of life. Faced with the daily reality of ongoing pain, most people eventually wonder when it’s time to consider minimally invasive spine surgery. While making a decision about surgery is seldom easy, you can depend on spine specialist and experienced...
Most people associate osteoarthritis with stiff, painful knees and hips, but osteoarthritis commonly affects your spine. In fact, almost 20% of people aged 45-65 and nearly 60% of adults over 65 have spinal arthritis. When you have spinal osteoarthritis, the condition does more than cause back pain. It affects the...
A pinched spinal nerve can affect your every move. The slightest movement in your neck or back may add painful pressure to the already compressed nerve. And many people experience excruciating pain that begins at the pinched nerve and shoots down their arms or legs. But you don’t need to...
You may not think your buttocks could signal a problem with your spine, but it’s a common experience. Buttock pain could reflect injuries in the gluteus muscles and tendons. But if the pain persists, worsens, or affects your back or legs, chances are you have a lower back problem, often...
Sudden slurred speech and difficulty speaking often occur during a stroke. Other stroke symptoms include sudden dizziness and numbness, weakness, or paralysis on one side of your face or in one arm or leg. If you have any symptoms of a stroke, call 911 immediately. Getting the proper medications within...
Sciatica causes low back pain along with its trademark symptom: a sharp pain that suddenly shoots down one leg. An estimated 40% of adults experience at least one bout of sciatica. For many, one episode turns into a chronic and often debilitating problem. Treatment for sciatica always begins with conservative therapies such...
No one ever wants to have surgery, but most people are especially anxious about spine surgery. Thanks to today's advanced, minimally invasive techniques, you can feel more confident about spine surgery, knowing it has fewer risks, a faster recovery, and can often be an outpatient procedure. As a board-certified neurosurgeon, Richard...
In most cases, brain tumors should be removed whenever possible. Exceptions to surgery include benign, small tumors not causing symptoms, which may sometimes be observed. However, deciding about the best technique for treating the tumor depends on many variables, from the type of brain tumor to the patient's overall health...
Nerves travel through openings in your spinal vertebrae. While the bony structures protect the nerves, the small, tight spaces also make it easy for spinal problems to push against and pinch nerves. Pinched nerves cause neck or back pain, as well as symptoms that travel down the length of the...
Sciatica, a condition that affects 40% of adults at some point in life, has a well-deserved reputation for causing debilitating low back and leg pain. Richard B. Kim, MD, specializes in many treatments that ease the pain and help you stay active and healthy. But there's only one way to...
Your risk of developing cervical and lumbar stenosis increases as you get older. At any age, spinal stenosis causes chronic pain that can become debilitating, but help is available. As a specialist in spine and nerve conditions, Richard B. Kim, MD, offers today’s most advanced treatments, easing your symptoms and...
Spinal tumors pose the exceptional challenge of removing the tumor without damaging the spinal nerves. That was a difficult and sometimes impossible task with standard surgery. But minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS) has revolutionized our ability to successfully remove these tumors. MISS introduced new techniques and instruments that give a...
You expect a brain tumor to cause neurological symptoms such as headaches, seizures, sensory changes, and cognitive problems. But most people are unprepared for their brain tumor to cause psychiatric (neurobehavioral) symptoms. While any type of brain tumor can lead to neurobehavioral symptoms including personality changes, the changes tend to...
Nothing will stop you in your tracks faster than the sudden excruciating pain of a pinched nerve. Though pain is common, pinched nerves cause a range of symptoms, including red flags warning you of rare but serious complications. Recognizing the symptoms gives you the chance to seek medical care at...
Most adults dealing with their first bout of back pain will heal and get back to their daily life. But if you’re one of the 20% whose first episode turns into chronic back pain, you understand why back pain is the leading cause of disability. Chronic back pain is one...
Tumors that begin in the spinal cord are rare compared to brain tumors, which account for 85-90% of all primary central nervous system tumors. Spine tumors have a good chance of being benign (noncancerous). But within the nerve-rich environment of the spine, a large benign tumor can lead to significant...
Many people put up with the hallmark signs of sciatica (lower back and shooting leg pain), hoping their symptoms will improve. But for 15-20%, the underlying problem doesn’t heal and the only way to get relief from the pain is with expert treatment from Richard B. Kim, MD. Dr. Kim...
Recognizing a compression fracture isn’t always as easy as you might think. But identifying your symptoms and seeking treatment is essential -- and not just to ease your pain. After you have one vertebral compression fracture, you’re five times more likely to have another one down the road. Prompt treatment...
Whether you have a herniated disc, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, or one of many other spine conditions, you know the agony of chronic back pain. When your back pain refuses to respond to conservative treatments such as medications and physical therapy, it’s time to consider surgery to repair the...
Degenerative disc disease is a good news/bad news story. The bad news? Your discs will deteriorate as you get older. But that’s offset by the good news that you can slow down that process and prevent painful back problems. Many people seek the help of Richard B. Kim, MD after...
Cervical radiculopathy refers to irritation or damage to a nerve in the neck. This typically occurs within the cervical spine, usually by impingement by a ruptured disc or a bone spur. Symptoms can include the following: Pain radiating from the neck into the arm. The location of the pain correlates...
Of all the possible causes of neck pain, radiculopathy is the only one that leads to problems that go beyond your neck. When you have cervical radiculopathy, or pinched nerves in your neck, you end up with symptoms that extend into your arms, hands, chest, shoulders, and upper back. Because...
Why is it important to learn about glioblastoma? Because it’s an incredibly aggressive cancer that accounts for more than half of all primary brain tumors. If you’re aware of its existence and the symptoms it causes, you have a better chance of getting medical treatment early enough to make a...
No one hopes they’ll need spine surgery, but sometimes it’s your best choice for repairing the underlying problem, restoring function, and finally finding some relief from the pain. When it’s time to make that decision, it helps to know that minimally invasive spine surgery is a good option for many...
Though there are over 150 different brain tumors, you don’t need to learn about all of them to get a solid understanding of the various types. Our neurosurgeon, Richard B. Kim, MD, whittled the list down to the most common brain tumors and an explanation about how brain tumors are...
You may feel pain in your back or neck and shrug it off as a pulled muscle or due to sleeping with your neck in the wrong position. But then the pain doesn’t go away, or it gets worse. You may even feel a tingling sensation. Suddenly you realize you...
Current surgical techniques for removing a brain tumor involve a variety of technological tools. These tools help the surgeon to enhance the safety of the procedure, while maximizing the degree of resection. This approach has resulted in better outcomes for the patient. Stereotactic guidance has been one of the technological...
Sciatica is known for causing lower back pain along with its hallmark symptom, pain that shoots down one leg. These symptoms occur when the nerve is pinched in your lumbar spine, most often due to a disc problem, such as a herniated disc or degenerative disc disease. Once you have...
Minimally invasive spine surgery, or MIS spine surgery, is a set of techniques which allows the surgeon to use smaller incisions, minimize tissue damage and instability, minimize blood loss, reduce pain medication use, while allowing for earlier mobilization and improved outcomes. These techniques have been relatively recently developed, and are...
If you’re like most people, you think of a herniated disc as something that could occur as you get older and reach retirement. But that’s not the case. Though age increases your risk, herniated discs often appear between the ages of 35-55 years. Your chances of developing a herniated disc...
Your chances of developing a brain tumor are small. But if a tumor develops, rapid treatment from a highly skilled neurosurgeon influences your long-term outcome. Our board-certified neurosurgeon, Richard B. Kim, MD, has extensive experience using advanced technologies and innovative medications to treat brain tumors, giving you exceptional care that...
Spinal stenosis is a common condition that can occur anywhere along the spine but appears most frequently in the neck (cervical spine) or lower back (lumbar spine). Not everyone with spinal stenosis develops symptoms, but the condition can cause debilitating pain that may limit your ability to walk, sit, or...
If you are suffering from the pain of a herniated disc, you might be wondering if it could heal on its own with enough ice, rest and Advil. The answer is that it depends on the circumstance. In this blog, I’ll describe what happens when a disc herniates, and discuss...
Spinal surgery can be approached in various different ways, depending on the needs, goals and the anatomy of each patient. Spinal fusion, for example, can be performed from different angles, each with their own set of risks and benefits. In this article, I talk about ALIF, or anterior lumbar interbody...
Microdiscectomies are one of my specialties, and they are especially effective as a treatment for patients who are experiencing the pain and tingling that results from a herniated disc in their spine. I always like to explore a range of options with my patients, and depending on the situation, sometimes...
One of the methods that I sometimes suggest to patients to alleviate chronic neck pain is a surgical procedure known as anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Whether this is the right procedure for a patient is determined by their particular situation, and often I will look at other treatments...
Back or neck pain can originate in the facet joints of your spine, leading to a condition called facet joint syndrome. Unlike other causes of back or neck pain, facet joint syndrome pain may be sporadic or intermittent. It can radiate into the shoulder, back, or arms, and can even...
Interventional spine medicine is an innovative approach to treating back pain. Using a holistic approach, the medical team—which could be made up of a spinal surgeon such as myself, a physical therapist, a pain management specialist, and a psychologist—will work together to determine the best course of treatment. The goal...