Spine Care

The right spine care. The first time.

Mayo Clinic spine care experts offer comprehensive, personalized services at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. Each year they help thousands of people with serious and complex conditions of the spine and limbs.

Our spine care experts take an evidence-based, multidisciplinary approach to spine disorders. They listen to you and try to identify the true cause of your pain or other symptoms. And then they offer a tailored treatment plan drawn from an unbiased review of all options. Your plan of care may include medicine, physical therapy, interventional pain management or other options. Surgery is recommended only when it makes sense for you and has the potential to improve your quality of life.

Your treatment team

Our spine care experts take a team approach to diagnosis and treatment of your condition. Your multidisciplinary team may include healthcare professionals from several medical and surgical specialties. The spine care team includes specialists in the nervous system (neurology), imaging (radiology and neuroradiology), spine surgery (neurosurgery), anesthesiology, orthopedic surgery, pain medicine, and physical medicine and rehabilitation. In addition, you have access to specialists in psychiatry and psychology, nutrition, interventional medicine, and integrative medicine and health, as needed. At Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, services also include a spinal cord injury rehabilitation program.

Innovative diagnosis and treatment

Our spine care experts offer comprehensive evaluation for people with every type of spine condition, from the common to the complex or rare. Your first visit may be with a nonsurgical medical spine specialist — someone who specializes in physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, or pain medicine. You'll undergo initial clinical evaluation and diagnostic testing.

Mayo Clinic's advanced diagnostic capabilities include:

• Advanced imaging techniques, such as neuroimaging called MRI or CT myelography, electrophysiology, and intraoperative monitoring.
• 3D imaging and 3D modeling to help pinpoint a spinal disorder and plan treatment.
• Specialized nerve conduction and muscle tests.
• Assessment of bone health.

Mayo Clinic leads the way in new treatments, such as minimally invasive surgical techniques, regenerative medicine and proton therapy.

Spine research

Mayo Clinic physician-scientists research and develop new ways to diagnose and treat conditions that affect the spine and limbs. One example is new regenerative medicine treatment options, such as stem cell trials for degenerative spine conditions. Ask your doctor about clinical trials and other studies that may be available to you as part of your spine care at Mayo Clinic.