Nathaniel M. Schuster, MD

Nathaniel M. Schuster, MD, is a board-certified neurologist and pain and headache specialist. He sees people with all types of chronic pain, with a special focus on spine pain and headache.

He offers his patients a comprehensive set of potential procedures to alleviate pain associated with nerve pain, arthritis, migraine and other headache disorders, and other conditions, including (but not limited to):

• Fluoroscopic-guided spine and other pain procedures
• Ultrasound-guided pain procedures, including steroid injections
• Botulinum Toxin chemodenervation for chronic migraine
• Radiofrequency ablation, also known as rhizotomy
• Spinal cord stimulation
• Nerve blocks
• Trigger point injections

Dr. Schuster's research interests include biomarker research and personalized medicine in pain disorders including new daily persistent headache, chronic migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, multiple sclerosis, spine pain, and lumbar radiculopathy (the condition often called "sciatica"). He has received research awards from the American Medical Association and the American Headache Society.

Dr. Schuster completed two fellowships in pain medicine. His fellowship in pain management was at Harvard Medical School's Massachusetts General Hospital. He also completed a fellowship in headache and facial pain at Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Montefiore Medical Center in New York. He completed residency training in neurology the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Schuster is board certified in neurology and pain medicine, and holds subspecialty certification in headache medicine from the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties.

He holds positions in national and international organizations, including serving on the American Academy of Neurology/American Headache Society Headache Measure Development Work Group and serving as a member of the Research Division of the Spine Intervention Society.

Outside of work, Dr. Schuster enjoys traveling, the outdoors, classic rock, and philosophy. He and his wife have a Labrador Retriever who loves exploring San Diego's beaches.

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For more information, see Pain Management.