Bay Area Comprehensive Spine and Sports Medical Group

My doctor referred me to Michael Park, MD for persistent neck and shoulder pain. A pain that worsened quite a bit while cycling. On my first visit he was direct, to the point, but seemingly professional and concerned. He told me the pain resulted from restrictions in my spinal canal which worsened when my chin went up and improved with my chin down. He explained that the movement corresponds with the spinal canal opening up and reducing the restriction and lessening the pain. He ordered an MRI based on my symptoms. He said he needed a better look to see what was happening in the cervical spine.
I returned for my second visit with MRI scan in hand. Dr. Park, whose demeanor had lightened up considerably since the first visit put the relevant scans up on the viewer. He talked me through each image describing very clearly his diagnosis and explaining options for my treatment. He was friendly and presented his prognosis in a positive and encouraging tone — which was nice — but remains to be seen. Since I was planning to be out of town the following week, he suggested oral corticosteroid to reduce swelling in the cervical spine.
Over the next three weeks my condition improved, and by my third visit the pain had noticeably subsided although at a slower rate than I was hoping for. Given my progress he recommended against continued medication, instead suggesting physical therapy as an option and advised me to allow my body to continue to heal naturally. He said see him if the pain worsens or lingers too long. I am scheduling physical therapy and I will see if he was right about the healing. I am feeling better but the pain is still there and is more than a minor nuisance as it prevents me from riding my bicycle.
Overall, I thought he was professional, informative, and showed genuine professional concern. It was a very good experience.

To be fair, this review is based on remote experience at the same location. Recently, I was unknowingly referred to Dr. Parks’ colleague Dr. Bulatov for a new problem. I am very fit for my age, and have a high threshold for pain. Don’t like pain medications or to spend my time at the doctor’s office, but wanted a nonsurgical opinion.
I cannot speak to Dr. Bulatov’s knowledge, technical expertise, or personal character. Unfortunate for her, I will never know. I will not give my business or insurance dollars to any practice that involves Michael Parks.
He was unable to accurately diagnose the remote, now resolved, problem thanks to Dr. Gerald Keane. Easy solution. Pain free after treatment.
But a misdiagnosis is not the worst part. Dr. Parks shockingly told me that if I stopped worrying like his other older Jewish patient and let in Jesus, my symptoms would start to improve. Wow. If I practiced or even knew much about Judaism, I’d probably be even more upset than I am by this man’s bigoted assumption.
I cannot recommend him. UCSF Physical Medicine & Rehab or SOAR Medical Group may be others to consider. Good luck with your journey.

We took our 17-​year-​old son, about to enter military service, to see Dr Park because he had suffered from low-​grade back pain for years, especially when he started driving, as well as shin splints during the short soccer season. Long-​term physiotherapy actually made the problem worse. Changing mattresses twice and years of orthotic shoe inserts for a large bunion (due to flat feet?) had not helped.
We had been given Dr Park’s name by an experienced local pediatrician and it was an excellent experience. Dr Park first ordered an MRI to rule out a structural problem and then spent a considerable time talking to my son about the physical effects of spending hours bent, and rigidly tense, over a gaming computer (as well as the life experience lost during those hours). He referred our son to a chiropracter (actually the chiropracter mainly handed over to his in-​house Pilates person, but that worked out fine) and recommended regular exercise (building up slowly to avoid shin splints) and things have gone very well.
Some time later, on a trip to NYC, two discs in my own back suddenly herniated, one of them massively. I was taken by ambulance to an ER and kept overnight in pain that I described as «13 out of 10, equal to birth pains». Because the pain was mainly in my hip, an MRI of my hip only was taken. (The doctor on call didn’t seem to have learned in medical school or in the ER that hip pain does not radiate down the leg, nor that a pinched nerve from a low-​down herniated disc can cause extreme pain in the hip.) I then spent 10 agonizing days completely immobile in NYC, on higher than the highest recommended doses of back pain, losing 8 pounds and totally dependent on others. During this time, my husband called Dr Park, who immediately guessed that I had herniated a low disc. The plane trip home, in wheelchairs and a flat business-​class seat, was a nightmare, and the next day I lay on a mattress in the back of our van to get to an MRI and then to Dr Park. His phone diagnosis was absolutely correct. The next morning, under painless anaesthetic, I was given a steroid shot and when I woke up, the pain was virtually gone. A month later, I had another shot, and I was able to leave the country for a long-​planned sabbatical abroad.
Thanks to Dr Park.

I’m in pain.
I wait one week for my scheduled medical appointment.
I took time off work and structured my entire day around the appointment.
I walk into a crowded office full of people… waiting.
I’m told by the receptionist that the doctor is running 35 minutes behind schedule.
I look around the room at all the people waiting and I wonder what kind of care the doctor will have time to give me with so many other patients waiting.
The parking meter is ticking away.
My life is ticking away.
I’m still in pain.
I cancel and walk out the door. There has got to be a better place than this.
Word of advice from this experience and from reading about the experiences of others – If you choose this doctor, call before your scheduled appointment to see how far the doctor is running behind.

Dr. Park is the worst I’ve ever been to in my life. Vague instructions prior to a procedure causes me to lose a day of work cause he won’t do the procedure. If things had been clear I would have had no problem. On top of that he had such a poor attitude that I felt like a victim rather than a patient.

Contrary to some of the reviews I read about him, I found Doctor park to be very helpful. He went out of his way to accommodate my needs and asked his staff to schedule an MRI right away because I was planning to go on a trip 2 days after visit.
The next morning he showed me the results of the MRI taking the time to explain to me what the images showed.
Doctor Park did not push me to have an epidural or surgery.
So I say «Thank you» to a doctor who takes the time to listen and care for his patients

Please ignore the ‘star rating’…I am not a client so I cannot rate this business. Mine is not so much a review, as a response to their weak customer interface. I was referred to this office today for sciatica treatment. As a small business owner, the insurance I subscribe to is an enhanced Blue Shield EPO through Covered California, and I have been happy with it. However, Bay Area Comprehensive Spine and Sports does not accept EPO’s of any kind. That is OKAY… but they need to communicate this information minus the attitude.
When I started to give my insurance information, the person I spoke with on the phone unapologetically jumped in ‘So is your insurance Obama Care? We don’t take Obama Care or ANY EPO’s…just PPO’s and HMO’s !’ She sounded rather judgmental, as if my health plan was beneath their high standards.
I happen to have a ‘Covered California’ policy because prior to Obama my daughter was not insurable thanks to a non-​existent pre-​existing condition. Finally all US citizens are insurable thanks to the Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama. Please show some respect when you use the term ‘Obama Care’.

I went to see Dr. Park for my lower back pain. It was one of the best experiences I have had with a doctor. He takes his time to listen to me and took every detail and description about my pain into consideration.
Now, I feel so much better with the treatment he has given me.

Worst medical encounter I’ve experienced. After reviewing my MRI showing spinal stenosis, Dr Park absolutley refused to discuss options with me, saying only «You need an operation. That will fix it»
My research on the subject to that point indicated that the answer was in no way quite so simple or predictible, in fact, there is a fairly high risk of failure, that often leaves the patient worse off than before the operation.
That was four years ago. Since then, I have been treating myself with simple exercises and Pilates, and the results have been quite satisfactory.
Be careful whom you trust. A workman whose only tool is a hammer tends to see every problem as a nail.

I’ve spent everyday of my life for the last 6 months regretting ever going to Dr Park and letting him damage my body.
Dr. Park diagnosed my herniated C5/​6 disc in my neck and immediately pushed for me to have a cortisone epidural injection (after talking about the surgeries he can do first). When I asked about physical therapy, he dismissed it saying it would only postpone getting better and that I’d have to do the injection later and not to waste my time. Mistakenly, I agreed to the injection. Before the injection, I had a pinching pain when I moved my neck and the movement was a bit restricted, but I was functioning at work and in my social life. Ever since the injection 4 months ago, I have had constant HORRIBLE NERVE PAIN that I have never experienced in my life. It feel likes someone is squeezing my spine in my neck, tingling, hot pain and dizziness. I had to miss a ton of work in Feb and struggle with pain from reaching and bending over and have not been able to engage in ANY high energy activity/​exercise. None of this was part of my life until Dr Park stuck a needle into my neck and irritated (hopefully not damaged) my nerve by injecting the cortisone into it. When I went back to Dr Park the next week, he dismissed the pain I was having and said it would go away when the steroid was out of my system, and continued to tell me about the surgery he could do putting a metal plate into my spine if the herniation doesn’t get better. Mind you I’m a healthy 20-​something and I came in without excruciating pain. After that I canceled my next appointment, switched doctors and never went back, and NEVER received word from their office seeing why I didn’t come back/​canceled my appointment or if that pain ever went away. I would not be so negative if he at least made an effort to give a crap about my health after he stuck me and got paid for it, no responsibility or accountability by him.
So I still have not had any answers to how to make the nerve pain better. I did go to a new doctor and did physical therapy which helped a bit with my overall comfort in my body and the disc herniation, but the nerve pain has barely gotten better.
THERE IS A REASON WHY DR PARK’S OFFICE IS SO «IMPRESSIVE» LOOKING. These spine doctors are paid more for each injection they give or surgery they perform and are not paid anything for writing a physical therapy referral. Dr Park does more injections and surgeries than any of the other spine doctors in the group. It is a terrifying fact and I have been so violated and wounded by this insensitive man.
((LASTLY, the anesthesiologist (Dr Black) he used for the procedure, gave me Fetanyl in my IV after I explicit told him and 2 of the nurses that I was in recovery and did not want any narcotics in my IV, and the nurse said that was ok. I woke up out of the sedation in a full blown panic attack and doped up and then found out he gave me fetanyl anyways. When I talked to (Dr. Black) the following week, he said I seemed nervous so he overrode my request! Dr Park acted clueless and didn’t take any accountability for this when I told him about that next week as well. *Before the procedure I told Dr Park that I personally knew people who had the same injection who were given ONLY LOCAL ANESTHETIC for it and he said, «oh no that’s not how it’s done, I’ve never even heard of that.» Not only does the new spine doctor say that he would’ve never given me an injection, but that when he does those injections he uses only local anesthetic))
Beware of this man and his money-​driven motives. Because of this man entirely, my (what now seems minor) disc condition turned into a plaguing chronic nerve issue that is still unresolved, and hopefully even resolvable. Don’t make my mistake.

Dr. Park is just simply amazing.
His bedside manner is empathetic and polite, but he also tells you like it is — just how serious or minimal the diagnosis.
One look at me for the first time and he knew exactly what was wrong. My treatment moved swiftly from a standstill to a whirlwind — and even though I’m not exactly fixed
yet, I’m much better and less in pain than I was in four months ago.
His surgical staff is very nice, as I had three epidural injections in a two month span, and got to know them pretty well. They are all polite and will go the extra mile for you when you are experiencing severe discomfort… which helps –at least me– feel a little better.
It kind of sucks you have to pay for parking for the regular office, but well worth it!

Dr. Park misdiagnosed my partner, treated her with disdain, and forced her to undergo a painful and pointless medical procedure.
We went in to see him because he took my partner’s insurance. He diagnosed her neck pain in thirty seconds as something that required a steroid injection. Despite my prodding, he never really told us what the diagnosis was, just what his recommended treatment was. He treated us like we were complete idiots unworthy of his time because we wanted to ask questions and rule out other problems. He also scoffed at the idea of getting an x-​ray or MRI before doing the injection (that was supposedly a sure fix to the pain).
When we went in for the injection, he never said hello or acknowledged our presence in any way. My partner was scared, but Dr. Park ignored her concerns. What an asshole.
Oh, and when her pain was worse a week later, we went to the hospital and got an MRI and found out that she needed semi-​emergency surgery. Way to miss the ball on that one, Dr. Park.

I’m updating my review from March, 2009, after having had epidurals elsewhere, reading some more-​recent reviews here and also getting an email asking for advice about Dr. Park:
If you need to have an injection for back or neck pain, I recommend Robert Savala, M.D., in San Francisco.
My L5-​S1 epidural steroid injection with Dr. Park in 2009 went like this:
I arrived at his clinic and was prepped in the procedure room. The staff were kind and friendly. Once prepped, a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and scrubs walked in silently, asked perfunctory questions of his staff and proceeded to stick a large needle in my lower back.
The silent man, it turns out, was Dr. Park. I will try to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he thought I was sedated. So he felt it unnecessary to say «hello,» or «how are you?’, or «how does that feel.» No explanation of the procedure he was about to administer.
The fact that I was not sedated became startlingly clear when his needle either touched the nerve root or the injection material came way too close. A bolt of pain shot down my leg.
I have never felt such pain in my life, even after no fewer than seven subsequent spine surgeries and another three epidurals (with Dr. Savala).
I screamed like I have never screamed before. And I’m a very quiet guy, normally.
My left arm reflexively swung toward my back to remove the noxious sting, Two nurses grabbed my arm and shortly the lidocaine kicked in, easing the pain.
Dr. Pain’s response? «That’s GOOD pain!»
Right.
Nothing like that ever happened with Dr. Savala, who spends a lot of time explaining every aspect of the procedure before, during and after. Sorry, Dr. Park, to remove my earlier four-​star rating, but I can’t stand by my earlier comments.

Dr. Park is great. He knows backs so well and he explains clearly. He talks in a casual style and uses very little medical mumbo jumbo. I’ve never waited more than 25 minutes for him and his front office staff, Maria, is one of the nicest staff I’ve ever dealt with, especially over the phone. When I needed MRIs, they actually FAXed them to my health plan while I was still there arranging a follow up appt!
Park has a very casual style and I like that. He is easy to talk to and he doesn’t mind that I swear when I describe the incredible pain I have had. He has also given me four amazing cortisone injections which took away my back pain, alas, not permanently. I ended up having to get surgery on my discs.
I have had a great experience with him and he really understands that back pain ruins your quality of life.
I’ve seen him more than 12 times now over a couple of years, and he is my go-​to guy for back issues.

Dr. Park knows spines like nobody else. The man has saved me from desperate pain twice now, once with an IDET in 2000 (which lasted about five years), and again by getting me into surgery — fast — in 2007. He is expert in all types of conservative treatments, but knows when it’s time to bring out the big guns. He takes you seriously when you’re in pain, which is incredibly important; I’ve had Kaiser tell me to «take a back class» when I’ve had a ruptured disc that left me almost unable to walk.
I’ve never had to wait long for an appointment, and the staff has always been responsive. Long live Dr. Park. .. and may he never retire.

Before I went to BACS to see Dr. Park I read Michelle M’s review and was glad that there was a place for me to go that dealt specifically with back issues. While I can say that the long waits to see Dr. Park and the short time speaking with him are not cool – I found Dr. Park very professional and quick with his cortisone procedures. I’m not in any immense pain, thank God, and I thank God that I have found relief from chronic back pain that I’ve carried for years. I found it extremely helpful to be physically active and stretching a great deal helps minimize and eliminate any major pain that others may feel… I will followup for possibly 2 or 3 more shots to complete my cortisone treatment, and I’m thankful for the medical attention.
*Gave 3 stars for the medical attention, but couldn’t give 5 stars due to the tardiness.*

Wow. I’ve had such a wildly different experience than Michelle M. I want to see her Dr. Park, dammit!
I’ll agree that the office space is lovely, but that’s about all I can agree with. First of all, it took almost a month for them to get an authorization for an MRI. Now, I know insurance companies are a pain, but I’ve worked for MDs for 10 years and I know that a wait time that long means either: 1) you didn’t actually submit it when you said you did or 2) you filled it out incompletely or incorrectly. But I digress.
So, I finally get the darn MRI. When I go to see him after, he says nonchalantly «wow, you’ve got 2 torn discs and 1 herniated disc. No wonder it hurts». Wow, thanks guy. He only has time to talk for about 3 minutes (after I’ve waited an hour and a half), so I don’t get a satisfactory response as to why in god’s name an otherwise healthy 30 year old has 3 damaged discs. (to be fair to Dr. Park, I also had laryngitis, so I wasn’t exactly loudly demanding answers).
So, about 2 weeks ago I got a cortisone shot. They warned me the pain might be worse after, and boy is it. And I can’t get through to their office. It’s either busy or just rings and rings. I’m gonna have to go down there.
So after all the kvetching, why 2 stars? 1 star is for the friendly front office girl. Also, Dr. Park is nice enough, and I’m sure he’s a good doctor, just rushed and with disorganized office.
And 1 star for pain killers. I mean, I need them, but still. Anyone who gives me Vicodin deserves a gold star.

This office kicks major ass (as opposed to spine, which would be pretty mean of them) in the comfort and design departments.
I would expect they’d provide plenty of accommodating couches and chairs for their patients who are struggling with musculoskeletal discomfort to varying degrees, and they do. But the gorgeous patterned wood floor — which extends beyond the waiting room and into the hallway and private examination rooms, and the large, well maintained fish aquarium and the abundance of natural and subdued lighting, and the size of the waiting room itself — with seating arranged far enough away from the reception desk that you can forget for a little while that you’re in a medical office — these were unexpected and appreciated amenities. I’d be hard pressed to feel this comfortable in the lounge of any local day spa.
When it became clear that six weeks of physical therapy hadn’t relieved my lower back pain and my previous treatment center (Sports & Orthopedic Leaders) responded by faxing my prescribing doctor a request for a new prescription for another six week course, I cried «bunkum!» and called my doc who referred me to physiatrist and M.D., Michael Park. I called on a Monday to schedule an appointment and was offered a slot on Friday of the same week.
The x-​rays ordered ahead of this appointment by my primary physician didn’t provide Dr. Park with information sufficient for diagnosis so, after evaluating my movement and the restriction, pain and discomfort associated with it, he ordered an MRI.
The office called my insurance, verified that no authorization for the procedure was required and faxed the MRI center the order. I like that I was spared those small but irritating steps and merely had to call the center and schedule an appointment. Dr. Park told me that if I got in quickly enough for an MRI he would be able to see me again for results follow-​up before Thanksgiving, an offer I appreciated even if I didn’t take advantage of it. But I did get in the following week and the radiologist’s report combined with Park’s own study of the MRI film confirmed his original suspicion that the problem lay in the fourth disc — an annular tear.
My treatment options were presented in clear but not dumbed down language, aided by visual illustrations and 3-​D models — the latter of which was also used to demonstrate exactly how and where a cortisone shot would be administered to the spine, IF I should choose that treatment. For the record, Dr. Park, although having performed (by his count) over 1,400 successful injections, does not favor it in my case and based on the questions he asked he doesn’t appear to recommend it in cases where patients rate their pain level at a five or lower on a 1 – 10 scale. But he understands that a five rating means something different to every patient where chronic discomfort is concerned. Most importantly he revealed that he and his attending staff play Hawaiian music during the epidural injection procedure.
And that’s how you go from bunkum to bravo in seven days, folks!
(Actually, still living with pain. Acupuncture, under my new insurance plan, to commence soon. A follow-​up appointment with Dr. Park is scheduled for March. Minus one star for the long waits in the comfortable chairs.)