Paul Christo, 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.