About the Back Pain Clinic

Reception at our clinic Our Toronto back and pain clinic has been in service for over 14 years. We have treated thousands of patients with all types of chronic pain conditions.

One of our strengths is patient education. All of us at the clinic enjoy teaching patients about headaches and chronic pain, and how to recognize the problems before they get out of control. We have reasonable treatment plans, bringing the patient back only as often as necessary. Most of our patients get better and are discharged from care at some point. They are always encouraged to follow up with us as often as they would need or like to. Our emphasis is in solving the problem and giving the patient the tools and the confidence to keep it under control.

Our Approach

Our goal is to help you in eliminating or reducing the pain suffered through migraines, headaches, low and mid back pain and chronic pain associated with a number of areas.
New patients are seen and assessed by a medical doctor trained as a pain specialist.
Most patients complain they were seen for "5 to 10 minutes" by a back specialist or other specialist. We spend the extra time to try and figure out all the factors contributing to the back pain.
Most back pain patients have many contributing causes and triggers. Unless you can diagnose and eliminate the majority of them at least, you have no chance of breaking this chronic pain pattern and giving someone their life back. Without neutralizing the triggers, you are stuck with covering up the back pain with drugs, or temporarily stopping it with nerve blocks or hands-on therapy.
Our goal is to get patients back to the stage where their back pain is eliminated wherever possible, and using simple measures that work well when needed.

Medical and Specialist Back & Chronic Pain Team

Our compassionate staff is comprised of a highly skilled team of certified pain management physicians, practitioners and registered therapists. The Headache & Pain Relief Centre team works closely together to help find solutions for patients living with chronic back pain who have had no response to traditional or usual treatment methods.

DR. MICHAEL ZITNEY

Director Headache and Pain Relief Centre 1998-present
Lecturer to Family Physicians on the diagnosis and treatment of Chronic pain 1998-present
Chief of Long Term Care Unit, York Central Hospital 1995-1998
Private Family practice, Thornhill, Ontario 1989-1998
On staff at York Central Hospital 1989-1998
Locum practice 1986-1989

Dr. JEREMY SLOAN

Anesthesiologist, Pain Relief Specialist
2000 - Associate - Headache & Pain Relief Centre
North York 1999- Consultant, Department of Anesthesia
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
1984- Consultant, Newborn and Developmental Pediatrics, Sunnybrook & Women's College Hospital Toronto
1975- Associate Professor, Department of Anesthesia, University of Toronto, Toronto
1964-1999 Senior Anesthesiologist & Deputy Chief, Dept. of Anesthesiology, Hospital for Sick Children Toronto
1990-1992 President of the Medical Staff, and member of the Board, HSC, Toronto
1992-1993 Board member, HSC Foundation

Dr. HARRY SANDHU

Jan 2006 – Present Headache and Pain Relief Centre
July 2005 – Present Private Practice
June 2000 -Research Assistant Sick Children’s Hospital Toronto, Ontario
1998-1999 -Research Assistant University of Toronto Department of Physiology
Awards - Medical Council of Canada Summer Research Scholarship (2000) Department of Physiology Research Grant (1996-1998) Canada Scholarship (1992-1996) F.A. Urquhart Admission Scholarship (1992) Ontario Scholarship (1992)

DAN PALMA

Dan is an Osteosomatic** Therapist. He has over twenty five years of experience providing relief of headache, neck, and back pain and muscular skeletal pain.

Dan uses a soft approach but dramatically effective touch to release muscle tension, realign your spine, and teach you to maintain proper posture. This technique does not cause headache flare-ups. It is safe and gentle enough for arthritis patients, and effective enough for strongly built athletes.

Dan received his training at the Institute for Advanced Somatic Studies, and honed his skills on the San Francisco 49er Football team. He has appeared on W5 talking about work-related injuries, and Noonday in San Jose, California, speaking on sports injuries.

Jackie Yates

Jackie Yates has been a physiotherapist for over 25 years. She has extensive experience in the assessment and treatment of many musculoskeletal conditions as well as sports injuries. She has a special interest in clients suffering from chronic pain and headaches.

Jackie has take a wide variety of post graduate causes in chronic pain and has been involved in the instruction of physiotherapy students from the University of Toronto and in post graduate schools in her area of expertise of orthopedic conditions. The areas of practice include manual therapy, mobilization, soft tissue massage, electrotherapy, acupuncture, and exercise physiology.

Jackie also incorporates work place strategies and life style adaptations to help her clients improve their quality of life and deal with their headaches and chronic pain.

Doug Lewis

Doug Lewis is a Registered Massage Therapist who graduated Centennial College in Doug 2002. He has been practicing in a variety of multidisciplinary clinics and came to the Headache and Pain Relief Centre in September 2006. He has been helping relieve pain and headaches caused by muscular imbalances and tension using massage therapy techniques. Doug also treats a variety of different conditions from whiplash to back sprains. He has had great success in relieving pain and preventing re-injury. The practice of massage therapy is the assessment of the soft tissue and joints of the body and the treatment and prevention of physical dysfunction and pain of the soft tissue and joints by manipulation to develop, maintain, rehabilitate or augment physical function, or relieve pain. (Massage Therapy Act 1991)

What we offer:

sample Visit our Headaches and Pain Relief site for more information about The Headache & Pain Relief Centre.