The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson cover art

The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson

The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson

By: Discussions with successful doctors such as Dr. James Cox Dr. Kurt Olding
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The Back Doctors podcast is weekly conversations with doctors from around the world sharing patient stories as they inform, educate, and offer hope for the millions of people who have back pain. Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • 329 Dr. Sean Altman - Trying to Avoid Orthopedic Surgery?
    Jun 29 2026
    Dr. Altman is a Functional Medicine Doctor with expertise in Energy Medicine, Bioelectric Signaling, and Regenerative Orthopedics. He shares his own story that started his path towards becoming a doctor treating pain patients.

    Dr. Sean Altman is a Functional Medicine Doctor with expertise in Energy Medicine, bioelectric signaling, and regenerative orthopedics, whose work focuses on identifying the root cause of injury and restoring the body's internal communication networks so healing can resume naturally and durably.

    With an academic foundation in Molecular Biology from Colgate University and a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Stony Brook University, Dr. Altman's training reflects a rare integration of cellular biology, biomechanics, and clinical medicine. Graduating Summa Cum Laude, he established early on a commitment to scientific rigor, clinical excellence, and innovation in patient care.

    ​As a Functional Medicine Doctor, Dr. Altman focuses on identifying and correcting the root biological drivers of pain, injury, and dysfunction rather than simply suppressing symptoms. His approach blends root-cause diagnostics with advanced bioelectric and regenerative therapies to restore communication within the nervous system, tissues, and cellular networks. Each patient receives extended, in-depth evaluations and a highly personalized plan designed to activate the body's own healing capacity and promote durable recovery.

    ​With over 15 years of clinical experience, Dr. Altman has treated a wide spectrum of complex and chronic conditions, including Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, migraines, autoimmune disorders, orthopedic and spine injuries, chronic pain syndromes, neurologic conditions, prenatal and post-partum conditions, and high-level athletic injuries. His advanced training in regenerative and neuromodulatory technologies — including shockwave therapy, Frequency-Specific Microcurrent, ultrasound-guided interventions, and bioelectric therapeutics — allows him to treat conditions that often fail conventional care.

    ​Dr. Altman's work has been featured in CBS and PBS documentaries highlighting integrated medical models at Integrated Pain Solutions in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he collaborated closely with specialists in physiatry, regenerative medicine, physical therapy, massage therapy, yoga, and meditation. This experience shaped his belief that durable healing requires a multidisciplinary, systems-based approach that addresses structure, biology, nervous system regulation, and energy simultaneously.

    Resources:

    drseanaltman.com

    The Cox 8 Table by Haven Medical

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    31 mins
  • 328 Dr. Kurt Olding - Finding the Right Spine Care Provider
    Jun 22 2026

    Dr. Kurt Olding shares with us a study of 30,000 low back pain patients and the care they receive depending on what type of provider they choose to see first. He goes on to share other studies and papers relevant to spine pain patients.

    Dr. Kurt Olding has been in practice for over 40 years, opening Minster Chiropractic Center in 1986 after graduating from National College of Chiropractic in Lombard, IL in 1984. Through the years Dr. Kurt has enjoyed treating all age groups, from infants to athletes and parents to grandparents. He took special interest in sports medicine during his early years in practice, completing 300 hours of continuing education through the Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician program.

    Dr. Kurt earned Cox® Technic certification in 2009. In 2012 he began co-instructing the technique, and since 2015 has been a full-time instructor alongside Dr. James Cox, Dr. Ralph Kruse, and Dr. George Joachim.

    Through his work with Cox® Technic, Dr. Kurt has had several exciting opportunities. In March of 2016, he taught Cox® Technic in Bern, Switzerland as part of the Swiss Chiropractic Academy's "technique series" program. Later that month, he presented research on Cox® Technic with his mentor Dr. James Cox at the annual Association of Chiropractic Colleges Research Agenda Conference. Dr. Kurt co-authored a paper published in the June 2016 edition of the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine titled Chiropractic Distraction Spinal Manipulation on Post-surgical Continued Low Back and Radicular Pain patients: A Retrospective Case Series.

    In 2015, Dr. Kurt became board certified as a Chiropractic Orthopedist, and a Fellow of the Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists (FACO). He is also a board member of the Academy of Chiropractic Orthopedists, serving since early 2016.

    Dr. Kurt and his wife Jackie are Minster natives. They have three children: Sunni, Kregg, and Jack. Sunni and her husband Tyler joined the practice in 2014.

    Resources:

    First Provider Seen for an Acute Episode of Low Back Pain Influences Subsequent Health Care Utilization

    Minster Chiropractic Center

    kurt.olding@gmail.com

    Find a Back Doctor

    thebackdoctorspodcast.com

    The Cox 8 Table by Haven Medical

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    43 mins
  • 327 Dr. Michael Park - Combining the Decompression and Fusion Surgery and Neuromodulation for Low Back Pain
    Jun 15 2026

    Dr. Michael Park shares stories from a Proof-of-Concept study that combined lumbar or lumbosacral decompression and fusion surgery and neuromodulation.

    Dr. Park is a former principal investigator of the SynerFuse® proof-of-concept clinical trial and primary inventor of SynerFuse® technology. Dr. Park is a board-certified neurosurgeon, an associate professor, MnDRIVE neuromodulation scholar, William P. Van Wagenen Fellow, and director of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery in the Department of Neurosurgery and Neurology at the University of Minnesota. He has extensive experience with neuromodulation – deep brain stimulation. This surgical therapy for brain conditions such as Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia modulates brain activity to treat symptoms. He also uses neuromodulation such as spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal drug delivery to treat cancer pain and chronic pain. In addition, working with epilepsy specialists, Dr. Park performs procedures such as surgical placement of depth and grid electrodes in the brain to identify abnormal epileptic brain areas and offer treatments which include resection, response neural stimulator (NeuroPace) placement, laser ablation, and vagal nerve stimulation. If patients are unable to have surgery, Dr. Park is able to treat some of the conditions using Gamma Knife radiosurgery as well.

    Dr. Park received his dual Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in economics and electrical engineering from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in biology from the University of Kansas. He holds an M.D. and Ph.D. from the School of Medicine and Graduate Studies, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, at the University of Kansas. He completed his neurosurgery residency at the Rhode Island Hospital/Brown University. He was awarded the prestigious William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and completed his fellowship with Dr. Jean Régis at the Université de la Méditerranée Aix-Marseille II, Assistance Publique L'Hôpital d'Adulte de la Timone in Marseille, France, in 2010. He was an Assistant Professor and the Director of Functional Neurosurgery and Pain in the Department of Neurosurgery at University of Louisville until 2014.

    Resources:

    Integrating Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation with Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion: Proof of Concept Study

    SynerFuse

    University of Minnesota

    Sponsor

    The Cox 8 Table by Haven Medical

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    35 mins
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