Interventional Spine and Pain Specialist on Long Island
What Is an Interventional Spine and Pain Specialist?
An interventional spine and pain specialist is a physician who evaluates painful conditions involving the spine, joints, nerves and surrounding musculoskeletal structures. The objective is not simply to suppress pain or match a treatment to an MRI finding. It is to determine which structure is most likely producing the patient’s symptoms and select the least invasive treatment appropriate for that diagnosis.
This approach occupies an important position between conservative care and traditional surgery. Some patients need physical therapy, medication or time. Others may benefit from a precisely targeted injection or radiofrequency procedure. A smaller group may be candidates for interventional spine treatment, endoscopic spine surgery, or evaluation by an orthopedic or neurosurgical spine surgeon.
The value of the specialty is not that every patient receives a procedure. It is that patients can be evaluated across a broad treatment continuum without assuming at the outset that injections, chronic medication or major surgery are the only choices.
Amit Sharma, MD
- Board-certified in Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
- Fellowship-trained in interventional pain medicine at Johns Hopkins
- Former Assistant Professor at Columbia University
- Chief, Division of Pain Management at Good Samaritan University Hospital
- Founder of SpinePain Solutions
- Medical Director of the Minimally Invasive Center of New York
- More than 60,000 interventional procedures performed
Interventional Spine Specialist Long Island: When to Seek Care
An interventional spine evaluation may be useful when symptoms persist despite appropriate initial treatment, when the diagnosis remains uncertain, or when a patient wants to understand options between conservative care and major surgery.
Common reasons for consultation include:
- Back or neck pain that has not improved with initial treatment
- Pain traveling into an arm or leg
- Numbness, tingling or weakness associated with spinal symptoms
- Sciatica or cervical radicular pain
- Lumbar spinal stenosis and difficulty walking or standing
- Persistent pain after previous spine surgery
- Vertebral compression fracture
- Suspected facet, sacroiliac joint or disc-related pain
- An MRI showing several abnormalities without a clear explanation for the symptoms
- A recommendation for spine surgery when the patient wants to understand whether a less invasive option may be reasonable
New or rapidly progressive weakness, loss of bowel or bladder control, saddle numbness, major trauma, fever with severe spinal pain, or other concerning neurological symptoms may require urgent or emergency evaluation.
How Interventional Spine Care Differs From Other Specialties
Different specialists contribute different expertise to spine care. The appropriate physician depends on the clinical problem.
| Specialist | Typical Role | When the Specialist May Be Most Helpful |
|---|---|---|
| Interventional spine and pain specialist | Diagnosis, targeted injections, radiofrequency treatments, neuromodulation and selected minimally invasive procedures | Persistent pain, uncertain pain source, radicular symptoms, spinal stenosis or consideration of treatment between conservative care and major surgery |
| Orthopedic or neurosurgical spine surgeon | Operative treatment of compression, instability, deformity and other structural spinal disorders | Progressive neurological loss, major instability, deformity or pathology requiring decompression or reconstruction |
| Neurologist | Evaluation of neurological disorders and diagnostic testing involving the brain, spinal cord, nerves and muscles | Symptoms suggesting neuropathy, neuromuscular disease, movement disorder or another neurological condition |
| Physical medicine and rehabilitation physician | Functional restoration, rehabilitation planning and nonoperative musculoskeletal care | Disability, rehabilitation needs, functional limitations or coordinated conservative treatment |
These roles overlap, and good spine care is often collaborative. An interventional specialist should recognize when rehabilitation remains appropriate, when a diagnostic procedure may clarify the pain source, and when surgical or neurological consultation should not be delayed.
Diagnosis Comes Before Treatment
MRI abnormalities are common and do not always identify the source of pain. A disc bulge, arthritis or spinal stenosis may be clinically important in one patient and incidental in another. For that reason, Dr. Sharma correlates the patient’s history, pain distribution, neurological examination and imaging before recommending treatment.
The evaluation may include:
- A detailed review of the location, character and timing of symptoms
- Neurological and musculoskeletal examination
- Review of MRI, CT, X-ray or electrodiagnostic findings
- Assessment for conditions outside the spine that can mimic spinal pain
- Selective use of diagnostic nerve, joint or medial branch blocks
- Coordination with physical therapists, chiropractors, neurologists and spine surgeons when appropriate
This diagnostic emphasis is particularly important when imaging shows abnormalities at multiple levels or when previous treatment has not produced the expected result.
A Continuum of Spine and Pain Treatment
Treatment should match the diagnosis, severity of symptoms, neurological findings, prior care and the patient’s goals. The plan may progress through several levels rather than jumping immediately to the most invasive option.
Conservative and Rehabilitative Care
When appropriate, care may begin or continue with activity modification, physical therapy, home exercise, medication management and coordination with other treating professionals.
Diagnostic and Therapeutic Procedures
Image-guided procedures can sometimes identify or treat a suspected pain generator. Depending on the condition, options may include epidural injections, selective nerve root blocks, facet or sacroiliac joint procedures and peripheral nerve treatments.
Radiofrequency and Neuromodulation
For appropriately selected patients, options may include radiofrequency ablation, basivertebral nerve ablation, spinal cord stimulation or dorsal root ganglion stimulation.
Minimally Invasive and Endoscopic Procedures
Selected patients with spinal stenosis, focal nerve compression, vertebral fracture or other structural pathology may be evaluated for procedures such as MILD®, vertebral augmentation, or endoscopic spine surgery.
These procedures are not substitutes for every conventional operation. When neurological findings, instability, deformity or the extent of compression makes traditional surgery more appropriate, referral to a spine surgeon remains an essential part of responsible care.
Why Patients and Referring Physicians Consult Dr. Amit Sharma
The reasons to consult Dr. Sharma are objective and verifiable rather than based on a claim that any physician is universally “the best.”
- Advanced training: Anesthesiology residency at Columbia University followed by fellowship training in interventional pain medicine at Johns Hopkins.
- Academic experience: Former Assistant Professor at Columbia University with peer-reviewed publications and textbook contributions.
- Hospital leadership: Chief of the Division of Pain Management at Good Samaritan University Hospital.
- Clinical experience: More than 25,000 interventional procedures performed.
- Broad treatment range: Experience extending from diagnostic injections and radiofrequency treatment to neuromodulation and selected minimally invasive and endoscopic spine procedures.
- Multidisciplinary judgment: Collaboration with rehabilitation professionals, neurologists, orthopedic physicians and spine surgeons when another form of care is more appropriate.
- Independent recognition: Repeated recognition by Castle Connolly, New York Magazine and Newsday.
- Local access: Offices serving patients throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
No particular credential guarantees an individual outcome. These qualifications help patients and referring clinicians understand Dr. Sharma’s training, scope of practice and experience when deciding whether a consultation is appropriate.
Four Long Island Office Locations
SpinePain Solutions sees patients at four locations across Nassau and Suffolk Counties:
- Farmingdale: Convenient for Bethpage, Hicksville, Levittown, Plainview, Massapequa and surrounding Nassau County communities
- Bay Shore: Convenient for Islip, Brentwood, West Babylon, Deer Park and surrounding South Shore communities
- Commack: Convenient for Smithtown, Hauppauge, Dix Hills, Kings Park and East Northport
- Huntington: Convenient for Huntington Station, Cold Spring Harbor, Melville, Greenlawn and Northport
Office-based consultations, diagnostic evaluation and selected treatments are coordinated according to the patient’s condition and the services available at each location.
View addresses, directions and office information »
Information for Referring Physicians
Dr. Sharma evaluates patients with persistent or diagnostically complex spine, nerve and musculoskeletal pain, including patients who may need:
- Clarification of the likely pain generator
- A targeted diagnostic or therapeutic procedure
- Evaluation after unsuccessful conservative treatment
- Assessment for neuromodulation
- Evaluation for minimally invasive lumbar decompression or endoscopic treatment
- Management of vertebral compression fracture
- A nonsurgical or interventional opinion before major spine surgery
- Coordination with a surgical specialist when operative treatment is more appropriate
The objective is to answer a focused clinical question and coordinate the next appropriate level of care—not to place every referred patient into a procedural pathway.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an interventional spine and pain specialist do?
An interventional spine and pain specialist identifies the structure or nerve most likely producing pain and develops an individualized treatment plan. That plan may include rehabilitation, medication, diagnostic injections, therapeutic procedures or selected minimally invasive spine treatments.
When should I see an interventional spine specialist?
An evaluation may be appropriate when back or neck pain persists despite initial care, pain travels into an arm or leg, numbness or weakness develops, imaging findings do not clearly explain the symptoms, or you want to understand appropriate options before major spine surgery.
Does seeing an interventional specialist mean I will need a procedure?
No. The first objective is to establish the most likely diagnosis. Depending on the findings, treatment may consist of observation, physical therapy, medication, diagnostic testing, an image-guided procedure or referral to another specialist.
Does Dr. Sharma perform minimally invasive and endoscopic spine procedures?
Yes. Dr. Sharma evaluates selected patients for minimally invasive and endoscopic spine procedures in addition to image-guided injections, radiofrequency treatments, vertebral augmentation and neuromodulation. Not every spinal condition is suitable for these approaches.
Where does Dr. Sharma see patients?
Dr. Sharma and the SpinePain Solutions team see patients in Farmingdale, Bay Shore, Commack and Huntington, serving communities throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Request an Interventional Spine Consultation
New and existing patients may contact SpinePain Solutions to discuss scheduling at the most convenient Long Island location.
Call: (631) 310-0000
This page provides general educational information and does not establish a physician-patient relationship or replace an individualized medical evaluation. Treatment recommendations depend on the diagnosis, examination, imaging findings, medical history and other patient-specific factors.
