Carolyn M. Jenks, MD

Dr. Paul Christo is a leading pain specialist and author of Aches and Gains, A Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Your Pain. He is the Chief, and Associate Professor of the Division of Pain Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He served as Director of the Multidisciplinary Pain Fellowship Program for 8 years, and the Blaustein Pain Treatment Center for 5 years at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is an invited lecturer both nationally and internationally, serves on 4 journal editorial boards, has published more than 100 articles and book chapters, co-edited 5 textbooks on pain, and actively teaches medical students, residents, and pain fellows. He’s a member of Men’s Health Magazine medical advisory board, serving as their first pain specialist. Dr. Christo treats a wide variety of patients with chronic pain including low back and neck pain, disc herniation, spinal stenosis, headache, neuropathic pain (shingles pain, complex regional pain syndrome, diabetic peripheral neuropathy), cancer pain, musculoskeletal pain, persistent postoperative pain, craniofacial pain, and pelvic pain. A subspecialty focus is neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome (NTOS), a condition in which compression of nerves in the neck causes neck, shoulder, arm, and hand pain as well as tingling and numbness. It’s often caused by overuse injuries involving the arm in an overhead position. Anesthetic blocks and/or botulinum toxin (Botox) can help to alleviate the symptoms. Further, he has studied the beneficial effects of auricular acupressure, an exciting integrative therapy for relieving musculoskeletal pain such as low back pain. Dr. Christo performs an array of pain-relieving procedures such as nerve blocks, joint injections, radiofrequency procedures, botulinum toxin injections, sympathetic blocks, vertebral augmentation (vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty), basivertebral nerve ablation (Intracept), minimally invasive lumbar decompression (MILD) for spinal stenosis, neuromodulation/neurostimulation procedures (spinal cord stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation), and the selective use of drug infusion pumps. He hosts an award-winning, nationally syndicated SIRIUS XM radio talk show called Aches and Gains®. The show provides hope and treatment options for those suffering from medical illnesses, diseases, and the pain that often results from these conditions. Montel Williams, Johnny Bench, and Maya Angelou have all been guests. His show has earned him the John and Emma Bonica Public Service Award from the American Pain Society, recognizing distinguished contributions to the field of pain medicine through public education, dissemination of information, and public service. The American Academy of Pain Medicine awarded him their prestigious Patient Advocacy Award as well. Dr. Christo was selected as a Mayday Pain and Society Fellow, and named a “Hero” by The Pain Community, a patient advocacy association for his work on Aches and Gains. He was also honored by the American Society of Pain Educators as Pain Educator of the Year for his transformational work on public education through the media. Further, he was inducted into the prestigious Miller Coulson Academy of Clinical Excellence as a consummate academic clinician with mastery in many domains of clinical excellence. Dr. Christo has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Academy of Integrative Pain Management, and has served on Advisory Boards for the American Academy of Pain Medicine, American Society of Anesthesiologists, The International Association for the Study of Pain, and the American Pain Society. He has also earned an MBA from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in Health Care Management.

Dr. Creighton is an ear and lateral skull base surgeon. Dr. Creighton graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering and earned his M.D. from Emory University. He completed a general surgery internship at the Mass General Hospital and residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Harvard. Following this he completed a fellowship in neurotology and lateral skull base surgery at Johns Hopkins. His clinical practice specializes in surgical and medical management of middle ear, inner ear, skull base and facial nerve disorders. These include skull base tumors, vestibular schwannomas (acoustic neuromas), hearing loss, cholesteatoma, cochlear implantation, stapedectomy, CSF leaks and ear drum perforations. He is trained in minimally invasive and endoscopic approaches to the ear for cholesteatoma and ear drum perforations, which reduces the need for visible incisions, and performed the first in office tympanoplsty repairs at Johns Hopkins.

Pediatric otolaryngologist David Tunkel specializes in the treatment of airway disorders in children, including obstructive sleep apnea, congenital or acquired abnormalities of the larynx and trachea, and infections of the upper airway, as well as common infections of the ears, nose and throat. He also treats children who need surgery for chronic otitis media, conductive hearing loss and cholesteatoma, and is nationally known for treating children with special needs, including those with cleft palate, Down syndrome, short-stature skeletal dysplasias and neuromotor diseases. A leader in developing evidence-based guidelines to provide optimal care for children with ear, nose and throat diseases, Dr. Tunkel has conducted research that showed the success of new methods of subtotal tonsillectomy in treating sleep-disordered breathing, with improved recovery for many children. Dr. Tunkel earned his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he remained for residency training in otolaryngology. He completed fellowship training in pediatric otolaryngology at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and served as the director of pediatric otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins for 30 years. He is chair of the Guideline Taskforce for the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, and was the lead developer for guidelines on tinnitus and nosebleed management. In addition, he is an editorial board member for JAMA Otolaryngology. Dr. Tunkel has served as chair of the Pediatric Otolaryngology Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, and was the chairperson of the otolaryngology section of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has been a board member for the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology, and has participated in clinical practice guideline development for major national organizations, recently serving on committees for acute otitis media and the use of tympanostomy tubes. Dr. Tunkel has been recognized by Baltimore magazine as a “Top Doctor,” and has received various accolades, including honor awards from the Maryland Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.