Gregory R. Polston, MD

Gregory R. Polston, MD, is a board-certified anesthesiologist who specializes in pain management. As a pain management specialist, he evaluates, diagnoses and treats all forms of pain. His expertise includes chronic pain, postoperative pain, cancer pain and spine-related pain.

Since 2008, Dr. Polston has been the associate medical director of UC San Diego Health's Center for Pain Medicine, which is dedicated to reducing and eliminating suffering, and improving function in individuals with lower-back or other spine-related pain issues, joint and muscular-skeletal pain or pain due to surgery, injury, nerve damage, psychological factors and metabolic problems such as diabetes.

Dr. Polston believes in a comprehensive and open approach to pain management, which emphasizes patient involvement and the application of different therapeutic approaches, including medications, procedures and integrative medicine. He is consistently elected as a top doctor in San Diego Magazine's "Physicians of Exceptional Excellent" annual survey.

An associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Dr. Polston instructs medical students, residents and pain medicine fellows. His research interests include chronic opioid therapy for non-cancer pain, placebos and electronic medical records.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Polston cared for patients in private practice at Advanced Medical Centers of Alaska.

Dr. Polston has co-authored numerous book chapters and journal articles and frequently presents at medical conferences. He is active in many committees, including the San Diego and Imperial County Prescription Drug Abuse Medical Task Force, the Medical Board of California Expert Reviewer Program for Pain Medicine, Medical Board of California Prescribing Task Force and the American Pain Society Clinical Center of Excellence Selection Committee, among others.

He completed his pain medicine fellowship at UC San Diego School of Medicine and his anesthesiology residency at Naval Medical Center San Diego. Dr. Polston completed his medical acupuncture training at University of California Los Angeles. He earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Polston is board-certified in anesthesiology and pain management. He is a fellow of interventional pain practice.

He is a member of the American Pain Society, American Society of Anesthesiologists, American Society of Interventional Pain Practitioners, American Society of Regional Anesthesia, International Neuromodulation Society and International Spinal Injection Society.

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For more information, see Pain Management.