Keith Franklin Lamar Polston, MD, MS

Dr. Keith Polston is an interventional spine physiatrist who provides non-surgical and minimally invasive spine care with the goal of reducing patients’ pain and optimizing function. His primary focus includes musculoskeletal and spine conditions such as arthritis in the low back or neck, degenerative disc disease, scoliosis, spinal stenosis, whiplash syndrome, sciatica, disc herniation, buttock pain, and muscle spasms. Treatment may include physical therapy, medication management, image-guided epidural steroid injections, nerve blocks, radiofrequency ablations, peripheral nerve stimulator placement, spinal cord stimulator trials, basivertebral nerve ablations, or vertebral augmentation. He also performs EMG and nerve conduction studies to diagnose peripheral nerve injury. Dr. Polston is Board Certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He completed his undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, and subsequently obtained a master’s degree in Human Genetics from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. He completed medical school at the University of Tennessee and residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Kansas in Kansas City, KS. He then completed sub-specialty fellowship training in Interventional Spine and Musculoskeletal Medicine at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT. Dr. Polston has published articles on a wide range of topics including mechanisms of spinal cord stimulation, pain and safety in competitive swimmers, and additional studies in genetics. He has additionally presented his research at national conferences and contributed to textbook chapters. His primary focus in clinical practice is to help alleviate pain and restore function. He believes that functional goals are important in achieving results and finds helping patients achieve these goals – whether that means playing with their grandkids or running a marathon – to be the most rewarding part of his job. Dr. Polston serves as an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and Physical Medicine and is passionate about teaching residents, medical students, and anyone interested in learning more about his specialty. He is originally from Nashville, TN. When he is not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, running, cycling, and spending time outdoors.