Welcome to the back pain blog!

Hello and welcome to this new blog on back pain. This is my very first post, so I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Ashot Kotcharian and I am a physician specialized in Interventional Pain, a field of medicine dedicated to treatment of pain stemming from different causes by using various pain blocking techniques. These techniques can help reduce pain and improve daily function and quality of life. My core training was in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and I am fellowship trained in Interventional Pain. I am also board certified.

I am starting this blog to help educate about back pain. But as you will see this blog will not be limited to just back pain as I plan to cover not only the entire spine but also the most common musculoskeletal pain conditions affecting the hips, knees and shoulders, to name a few. My first posts on this blog will cover the most common interventional pain procedures to hopefully explain exactly what these treatments are for and to clear up any confusion or misunderstanding that are common. I plan to use clear , straight forward language so that everything hopefully makes sense and is easy to understand. This blog is meant for the general public audience and not for medical professionals, although they might find this useful as well. Thank you so much for visiting this blog and I hope you find it interesting, informative, and helpful.

Now for a short medical disclaimer. I hope everyone reading will understand and remember that all medical information provided by myself, in the absence of a visit with a health care professional, must be considered an educational service only.  This blog should not be relied upon as a medical judgement and does not replace a physician’s independent judgement about the appropriateness or risks of a procedure or condition for a given patient. Also, the opinions expressed on this site are mine, and mine alone, and may not be the same as those of my previous and current employers.