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About 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.

UC San Diego Health Links
For more information, see Pain Management.

Insurance Information
UC San Diego Health accepts most major health insurance plans, but you should verify that your plan covers this provider and all services and locations. The information in the link below does not apply to affiliate providers, who are not employed by UC San Diego Health.
Health Insurance Plans Accepted
Open Payments Program Notification
For informational purposes only, a link to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments web page is provided here. The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires that detailed information about payment and other payments of value worth over ten dollars ($10) from manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologics to physicians and teaching hospitals be made available to the public.
View Open Payments data for Dr. Polston

Degree

  • UC San Diego, School of Medicine, San Diego, CA

Gender

  • Male

Date Joined Staff

  • 2008-09-09

Board Certifications

  • Pain Medicine
  • American Board of Anesthesiology

Conditions and Treatments

  • Peripheral Neuropathy
  • Radiofrequency Neurotomy
  • Neuropathic Pain
  • Neck Pain
  • Occipital Neuralgia
  • Headache
  • Hyperalgesia
  • Peripheral Nerve Stimulation
  • Neurostimulation
  • Low Back Pain
  • Allodynia
  • Spine Pain
  • Spinal Cord Stimulation
  • Peripheral Neuralgia
  • Regional Pain Syndrome/Postsurgical Pain
  • Neuromodulation
  • Image-Guided Interventions
Insurance Information
UC San Diego Health accepts most major health insurance plans, but you should verify that your plan covers this provider and all services and locations. The information in the link below does not apply to affiliate providers, who are not employed by UC San Diego Health.
Health Insurance Plans Accepted
Open Payments Program Notification
For informational purposes only, a link to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments web page is provided here. The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires that detailed information about payment and other payments of value worth over ten dollars ($10) from manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologics to physicians and teaching hospitals be made available to the public.
View Open Payments data for Dr. Polston
  • Endocrinology