Home Blog Keeping the Spine Healthy, and Fixing it When Things Go Wrong | Dr. Jian Guan

January 15, 2025

Keeping the Spine Healthy, and Fixing it When Things Go Wrong | Dr. Jian Guan

by Anthony Effinger

The Think Neuro podcast from Pacific Neuroscience Institute takes you into the clinic, operating room and laboratory with doctors and surgeons who are tackling the most challenging brain diseases and disorders. Host: Anthony Effinger

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Episode 61: Show Notes

We ask a lot of our spines. They keep us upright, they bend into myriad positions, and they protect our spinal cord, a huge job by itself. And they go the distance, doing all of those things, if we’re lucky, well into our 90s. But the longer we live, the more we wear out our spines.

That’s where Dr. Jian Guan comes in. He handles complicated spinal issues that don’t get better with rest, exercise or physical therapy. After medical school and residency, he did a fellowship in complex spinal neurosurgery at the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts, one of the top U.S. spine centers. Many of the patients that Dr. Guan sees have been in accidents or experienced other trauma.

But many others are the victims of poor posture and inactivity, two things that are detrimental to spine health.

In this episode, Dr. Guan talks about how important it is to get up and out of chairs in front of our computers and how to sit when we must. Hit play and learn how to keep an incredible structure healthy for the long run.

About Dr. Guan

Dr. Jian Guan is a board-certified and fellowship trained neurosurgeon with a special focus on complex spine surgery at Pacific Neuroscience Institute. Dedicated to the care of patients with spine and neck conditions, he practices at PNI-South Bay / Spine Institute at Little Company of Mary in Torrance, California. With over 75 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Guan has a particular clinical and research interest in ways of maximizing benefit to patients following neurosurgical procedures.

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Anthony Effinger

Think Neuro's host is Anthony Effinger, an award-winning journalist who is fascinated with neuroscience and the workings of the brain. Anthony spent 24 years at Bloomberg News, where he covered all aspects of finance, with forays into science and health. In 2006, the Association of Health Care Journalists awarded him first prize for Playing the Odds, an in-depth piece on the changing strategies used to treat prostate cancer. These days, he is a staff writer at Willamette Week, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper in Portland, Oregon, where he lives with his wife and two children.

Last updated: January 15th, 2025