Dr. Joel S. Saal, MD

Expert Publications

• Intradiscal electrothermal treatment for chronic discogenic low back pain: a prospective outcome study with minimum 1-year follow-up.
• Intradiscal electrothermal therapy for the treatment of chronic discogenic low back pain.
• Intradiscal electrothermal treatment for chronic discogenic low back pain: prospective outcome study with a minimum 2-year follow-up.
• General principles of diagnostic testing as related to painful lumbar spine disorders: a critical appraisal of current diagnostic techniques.
• The value of somatosensory evoked potential testing for upper lumbar radiculopathy. A correlation of electrophysiologic and anatomic data.
• The importance of posterior epidural fat pad in lumbar central canal stenosis.
• The natural history of lumbar intervertebral disc extrusions treated nonoperatively.
• Nonoperative treatment of herniated lumbar intervertebral disc with radiculopathy. An outcome study.
• The role of inflammation in lumbar pain.
• Evaluation and treatment of low back pain.

Media Releases

Get to know Physiatrist Dr. Joel S. Saal, who serves patients in Redwood City, California.

Dr. Saal is a partner and attending physician with The Physiatry Medical Group practice at SOAR in Redwood City, California. His career has been dedicated to helping patients with spine problems get better and avoid spine surgery

Dr. Saal received his Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of New York at Buffalo in 1975. He then went on to graduate studies at Columbia University before attending Tulane University School of Medicine where he graduated with his medical degree in 1980. He completed his training in internal medicine at the Children’s Hospital Medical /California Pacific Medical Center of San Francisco, a UCSF affiliate, for internship and residency programs completed in 1983. He then went on to specialty training at Stanford University in physical medicine and rehabilitation, completing his residency program in 1986, the same year that he joined the Physiatry Medical Group at SOAR.

Dr. Saal is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation through the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and is board certified by the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine. 

In his career, Dr. Saal has served as team physician and consultant to the San Francisco Forty Niners Football Team. He has also served as team physician for Stanford University athletics and as an Associate Clinical Professor for the Department of Functional Restoration at Stanford University. Dr. Saal served as team physician to Santa Clara University athletics.

As a long standing member of the North American Spine Society (NASS), Dr. Saal has served on the Board of Directors of that organization and in the development of the NASS publication, SPINELINE. 

He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and was one of the Founders of the Physiatric Association of Spine, Sports, and Occupational Rehabilitation (PASSOR).

Physical medicine and rehabilitation, also known as physiatry, is unique among medical specialties with expert knowledge of all conditions that cause pain in the joints and spine, and a special expertise in using rehabilitation and exercise to treat those conditions. Dr. Saal’s training in multiple specialties has given him an expertise in diagnosis that is unmatched.

Throughout his career, Dr. Saal has participated and led clinical research that has served as the basis for nonsurgical spine treatment worldwide. His work has changed the way that spine medicine is practiced. 

Dr. Saal’s research publications serve as the foundational work of the non-operative treatment of painful spinal disorders.  His research publications regarding the role of inflammation in disc herniations and spinal disc pain are among the most frequently quoted among all research in spine, including spine surgery. 

The use of active exercise to treat low back pain and herniated discs is the result of his research work. Core strength training originated in that research publication. His work has changed the approach to the treatment and understanding of painful lumbar spine disorders, nationally and internationally.  

Dr. Saal is a long-standing member of the editorial board of the journal SPINE, served on the editorial board of The Spine Journal, and has authored numerous book chapters on spine disorders, including a chapter in a major textbook of internal medicine 

Dr. Saal is able to offer a uniquely high level of care based on his extensive clinical and research experience. 

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