Penn State Spine Center provides treatment for simple conditions such as herniated discs and low back or neck pain, to more complex problems such as spinal tumors, scoliosis, and spine fractures.

Our entire patient care team understands the challenges you may face, whether you’re living with pain or having trouble managing simple daily activities.

  • Board-certified physicians from Neurosurgery, Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pain Management and Radiology.
  • Leading institution in the region to offer STAR™ Tumor Ablation System to relieve pain from cancer

Image of an award for Blue Distinction. Text reads as "Designated as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery”. The award includes the Capital Blue Cross logo and the tagline: "Independent Licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association"

The Back Coach

We know back and neck pain is tough to deal with - that’s why the Back Coach is here to help. This program, developed by Penn State Spine Center, is designed to provide you with the information, resources, and support you need to understand, cope with, and manage your pain.

Here you will find information from our Spine Center experts about what causes back and neck pain, how to manage your pain, alternative therapies, back surgery, and more. You can also view experts offering advice in video in the Topics and Advice section. And you can take a free back and neck pain assessment quiz to help understand how to deal with your pain.

Comprehensive spine care

We can meet all your back and neck pain needs - from treating simple back pain, to complex traumas. Our skilled spine care team works with each individual patient to determine the best course of treatment.

  • Ankylosing spondylitis
  • Arachnoiditis
  • Back pain
  • Cauda equina syndrome
  • Cervical disk herniation
  • Cervical facet disease
  • Cervical spondylosis
  • Coccydynia (tailbone trauma)
  • Compression fracture
  • CSF leak
  • Diskitis
  • Epidural abscess
  • Failed back surgery syndrome
  • Herniated disk
  • Kyphosis
  • Low back pain
  • Lumbar disk herniation
  • Lumbar facet disease
  • Lumbar spondylosis
  • Myelopathy
  • Neck pain
  • Occipital neuralgia
  • Postlaminectomy syndrome
  • Sacral (insufficiency) fracture
  • Sciatica
  • Scoliosis
  • Spina bifida
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Spinal fracture
  • Spinal osteomyelitis
  • Spinal stenosis
  • Spinal tumor
  • Spondylolisthesis
  • Spondylolysis
  • Syringomyelia

Experts in Care

Meet our doctors, view their profiles and select the one that’s right for you.

Find a doctor near you

Diagnostic and Therapeutic

The spine is a complex structure. Through our diagnostic services, we can help identify the cause of spine-related pain. Through our therapeutic services, we can then treat it.

Diagnostic and imaging services:

  • X-ray
  • CT scan
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
  • Bone scan
  • Electromyography (EMG)
  • Nerve conduction studies (NCS)
  • Diagnostic spinal injections including facet nerve blocks, selective spinal nerve root blocks, and provocative discograms

Our imaging experts are readily available for interpretation and consultation on your studies. We also offer specialized services for our pediatric and adult patients who may need sedation for their imaging, and a non-claustrophobic MRI.

Therapeutic services

  • Therapeutic injections such as interlaminar and transforaminal epidural steroid injections, facet joint, and sacroiliac joint injections
  • Radiofrequency ablation of the facet nerves
  • Vertebral augmentation of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures with a special cement
  • Implantable pain management devices including spinal cord stimulators and drug delivery systems
  • Percutaneous intradiscal procedures

Pain Management

When chronic pain can’t be reduced by conventional medical treatment or physical therapy, patients are candidates for comprehensive pain management.

Penn State Spine Center has anesthesiologists, surgeons, interventional neuroradiologists, physiatrists, physical therapists, and other specialists working closely together. Our goal is to decrease pain and improve the function and quality of life of our patients.

Board-certified pain management physicians and highly-trained nurses provide:

  • Comprehensive evaluation including diagnostic studies as necessary
  • Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures
  • Recommendations for medical management
  • Referrals to other specialists
  • Referral to a multi-disciplinary pain rehabilitation program with a strong emphasis on behavioral modification and self-directed treatments
  • Patient education

Our patients are evaluated in conjunction with our spine surgeons. This reduces redundancy and saves time for our patients. We also coordinate our treatment with primary care physicians to provide information on lifestyle changes like weight reduction and smoking cessation. This promotes self-management techniques and decreases the reliance on healthcare facilities.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation includes the use of non-surgical treatment to manage pain, restore function, and to prevent the reoccurrence of neck and back pain. 

Our Spine Center specialists in rehabilitation medicine, called physiatrists, work closely with orthopaedic surgeons, neurological surgeons, and pain management specialists. Therapeutic exercises combined with medications and other treatment advances may help you keep an active lifestyle. We’ll craft a treatment plan that helps you stay as active as possible.

Our services:

  • McKenzie-trained physical therapists
  • Orthotics and bracing
  • Aquatic therapy in a state-of-the-art therapy pool
  • Back school
  • Post-operative rehabilitation
  • Functional capacity evaluations
  • Acute and early interventions for neck and back pain
  • Return to work evaluations
  • Independent medical examinations
  • Impairment rating evaluations
  • Case reviews
  • Medico-legal reviews

Surgical

Fortunately, most patients with spine problems do not require invasive surgical treatment. For those patients that do, the Penn State Spine Center has a team of well-trained and experienced surgeons who can provide surgical treatment.

From simple, routine outpatient procedures to complex spinal reconstruction, our surgeons have the tools to manage all forms of spine pathology.

Our surgeons perform well-established procedures that have proven their effectiveness over many years. In addition, they strive to stay at the forefront of new technologies and procedures that may revolutionize they way spine conditions are treated.

Ongoing collaboration with industry leaders gives our surgeons the opportunity to enroll patients in research studies as well as to participate in new technology and product development.

Support Groups

Support groups provide an opportunity to share your feelings and connect with other patients and caregivers who are experiencing similar struggles.

Learn more about support groups offered

Convenient Locations

Find the care your family needs, close to home, at one of our many locations throughout central Pennsylvania.

Find a location near you