While neck pain and neck stiffness can occur from time to time or should the pain be severe or persist, a comprehensive evaluation by a board-certified pain specialist can be essential to determine the exact cause of your pain. Dr. Jay M. Shah, at the SamWell Institute for pain management in Colonia, Livingston & Englewood, New Jersey is highly trained and experienced in accurately diagnosing and treating chronic neck and shoulder pain.

Dr. Jay M. Shah MD, FAAPMR is a double-board certified and Ivy League trained Interventional Pain Specialist, minimally invasive spine specialist, sports medicine specialist and is the Founder and Medical Director of the SamWell Institute for Pain Management. SamWell Pain has two convenient office locations in Colonia, Livingston & Englewood, New Jersey.

Dr. Shah completed his training in Interventional Pain Medicine at the prestigious ACGME accredited Weill-Cornell Tri-institutional pain fellowship in New York, where he trained at three of the nation's top hospitals: Weill Cornell Medical College/New York Presbyterian Hospital, The Hospital for Special Surgery, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Dr. Shah is widely considered a physician leader within the field of Interventional Pain Medicine. His truly patient-centered, multidisciplinary, and evidence-based approach aims to provide personalized care to each individual patient and their specific needs and goals. 

WATCH: MEET DR. SHAH

As there are a variety of conditions that can cause neck pain, it is essential to accurately diagnose the source of pain to create a customized and personalized plan of care. Some common causes of neck and shoulder pain include:

• Poor posture ( sitting at an office desk all day/prolonged driving
• Traumatic injury
• Herniated disc in neck 
• Inflammation/arthritis from the joints in the neck (facet joint pain)
• Spinal stenosis in the neck 

• Pinched nerve in neck
• Pain after neck surgery
• Cervical spinal stenosis (spinal stenosis in the neck)
• Muscle strain/sprain
• Spinal joint inflammation or facet joint pain

Herniated disc

A herniated disc occurs when one of the discs in between your vertebrae develops. Arthritis becomes inflamed or pinches on a nerve. Often, herniated discs can compress a nerve and cause back pain and sciatica leg pain with associated burning, numbness, tingling, and pins and needles sensation down the leg with weakness.

Spinal stenosis

In spinal stenosis, the areas that your nerves travel through in your spine become narrowed and compressed, and those pinched nerves can cause pain, numbness, tingling, and painful spasms down both legs with associated back pain. Spinal stenosis is often related to degenerative osteoarthritis of the spine.

Sciatica pain

Sciatica, also known as radiculopathy, is due to a pinched nerve, and this condition occurs when one of your spinal nerves is compressed by a herniated disc, bulging disc, or arthritis in the joints in your spine. This condition can cause a sharp, stabbing pain in the back that can travel down one of your legs all the way to your foot and is associated with painful neuropathy or nerve pain consisting of numbness, tingling, burning, and painful cramping/spasms.

Muscle strain/sprain

A muscle strain is a severe pain in your lower back and generally arises from prolonged, standing, sitting, or heavy, bending, lifting, or twisting. Muscle strains and associated spasms can be debilitating and can incapacitate you.

Spinal joint inflammation or facet joint pain

The small, spinal joints, or facet joints, click your vertebrae together, give your spine stability, and allow for range of motion and movement. When these joints become inflamed and degenerative due to wear and tear can lead to neck and back pain, flat across the neck and back regions. This can lead to neck pain, radiating into the shoulders, headaches, as well as back pain, radiating into the hips, buttocks, and thighs made worse with bending backward, prolonged standing, sitting and laying down as well as walking.

Cervical radiculopathy (pinched nerve in neck)

Cervical radiculopathy, or a pinched nerve in the neck, occurs when a nerve in your neck is compressed by a disc herniation or a painful and inflamed spinal joint. This compression causes symptoms, such as pain, numbness, tingling, burning, pins, and needles sensation, and possibly even weakness, radiating from your neck into your upper back, as well as your shoulder, and can also radiate all the way down your arm to your hand. Our treatments include a comprehensive and personalized plan of care, including precise, diagnostics, as well as anti-inflammatory medications, and targeted nonsurgical interventional pain relieving procedures that are performed under precise image guidance.

Cervicogenic/Occipital headaches

Often times structures in the neck, such as a herniated disc or inflamed joints at the base of the neck, can cause neck pain and stiffness, as well as a limited range of motion. This can also extend and radiate up into the back or top of the head with associated burning or tingling, and can also wrap up to the front of the forehead and eyes and cause severe chronic migraines and headaches. We have several innovative, non-surgical treatment options, specifically for this type of neck pain and associated headaches.

Call or go online today to schedule your appointment, and learn how you can get the relief that you need.

"I have been impressed and grateful every step of the way with Dr. Shah. He did the proper imaging and other diagnostic tests, to determine the levels and locations of damage. He is extremely careful in every way and has unsurpassed listening skills. It’s an immense relief to find a doctor I trust.  He’s also capable of thinking outside the box and coming up with an alternative treatment if one option isn’t tolerated. I cannot recommend him, or anyone, more highly."

K.G.

"I had pain for 10 years.

Dr. Shah was the first to doctor to take the time to correctly identify the sources and treat them without drugs. A few minimally invasive procedures and I feel like a new man. Waking up without pain is a blessing. Dr. Shah is incredible."

NICHOLAS K.

Most Major Insurances Accepted. Motor Vehicle and Worker's Compensation Insurances Accepted.

We do NOT participate with Medicare, Medicaid, HMO, or Community plans. We are not currently accepting Medicare insurances. We are not currently accepting self-pay patients at this time.

Please contact our office if you do not see your insurance provider listed.

• Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield
• Meritain Health
• Aetna
• United Healthcare
• Cigna

• NYSHIP by United Healthcare
  
• BlueCross
• BlueShield
• UMR

We offer complimentary insurance verifications and explanations of benefits. Our office will contact you shortly after completing the insurance verification form.

Neck pain treatments at the SamWell Institute for pain management are customized based on your specific cause of pain and precision diagnostics. For appropriate candidates, all procedures are safely performed under state-of-the-art, x-ray image guidance, as well as ultrasound image guidance. 

Some of the many comprehensive treatment options include:

• Physical therapy
• Cervical epidurals
• Steroid injections under x-ray image guidance
• Cervical/neck radio frequency ablation under image guidance for painful facet joint pain. 

• Trigger point injections performed under ultrasound guidance
• Spinal cord stimulation for chronic neck, arm & nerve pain
• Minimally, invasive, procedures for neck pain, migraines and neuropathy pain 

Our team of pain specialists will design a completely customized and personalized plan of care to provide you with long-term functional pain relief.

At the SamWell Institute for Pain Management, we understand the importance of providing a unique and meaningful patient experience within our offices. We are standing by to help you with your lower back pain. Reach out to us today.

1503 St. George Avenue Ste 205 Colonia, NJ 07067

315 E. Northfield Road Suite 1C Livingston, NJ 07039

370 Grand Ave Suite 202 Englewood, NJ 07631

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*The content/images on this website are not a guarantee of individual results. Individual results may vary. The information provided on this site is for general informational purposes only, and does not replace the need for a formal consultation. Individual results may vary.