Meet Your Spine Specialist
Dr. Joseph Pyun, MD
Orthopedic Spine Surgeon
A New Jersey-trained spine specialist focused on clear answers, careful preparation, and helping patients understand their options.
Dr. Joseph Pyun is an orthopedic spine surgeon with advanced fellowship training in spine surgery and a focus on minimally invasive techniques. His work centers on helping patients understand what is causing their back, neck, or nerve pain — and whether conservative care, further evaluation, or surgery is the right next step.
Raised by immigrant parents who taught him the value of hard work and discipline, Dr. Pyun brings a careful, prepared, and detail-oriented approach to spine care. He takes pride in reviewing the full picture — symptoms, imaging, goals, and prior treatments — so patients can feel more comfortable with the plan ahead.
Training & Credentials
Where Dr. Pyun trained.
Fellowship-trained in spine surgery with experience treating both routine and complex cases.
Specialty
Orthopedic Spine Surgeon
9 years of experience
Fellowship
University of Maryland Medical Center
Spine Surgery — including R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center
Residency
New York Medical College
Westchester Medical Center — Orthopedic Surgery
Undergraduate
Rutgers University — New Brunswick
Summa cum laude
Professional Memberships
Dr. Pyun's professional memberships help show his connection to orthopaedic and spine-focused communities dedicated to education, research, and advancing patient care.
Hospital affiliations available upon request.
What sets him apart
Why Patients Choose Dr. Pyun
Patients are not just cases or images on a screen. Dr. Pyun's goal is to understand the person, the problem, and the safest next step.
He looks at the full picture
Dr. Pyun reviews symptoms, history, goals, imaging, and prior treatments before recommending a path.
He prepares carefully
He takes pride in preparation, attention to detail, and problem-solving — especially when spine problems are complex.
He considers conservative care first
When appropriate, non-surgical options are considered before surgery becomes part of the conversation.
He explains the plan clearly
Patients should leave understanding what is happening, what their options are, and what comes next.
Care philosophy
How Dr. Pyun approaches spine care
Understanding comes before treatment.
Spine problems can be complex. Pain may come from a disc, nerve, instability, stenosis, degeneration, or another source entirely. Dr. Pyun's approach is to connect the patient's symptoms, exam, imaging, history, and goals before recommending treatment.
“The first step is understanding what is causing the pain. From there, we can talk through the options that actually make sense.”
Listen
Dr. Pyun starts by understanding your full story — where the pain is, how it affects your life, what you have already tried, and what you are hoping to get back to.
Clarify
Your exam, imaging, symptoms, and history are reviewed together to identify what may actually be causing the problem — connecting the clinical picture to what you are feeling, not just pointing to an MRI finding.
Plan
Once the source is clearer, Dr. Pyun talks through the options that fit your condition and goals. Conservative care is considered first when appropriate. Surgery is discussed only when it clearly fits the diagnosis and safest path forward.
Why it matters
Why spine care matters
One case that stayed with Dr. Pyun involved a young father who could not hold his baby because a herniated disc in his neck had caused weakness in his arm. After a cervical disc replacement, the patient's weakness improved immediately in recovery.
For Dr. Pyun, that is the purpose of spine care: not simply treating an MRI finding, but helping people return to the parts of life they are missing.
Videos from Dr. Pyun
Surgeon Videos
Helpful spine-care videos, patient education, and answers to common questions.
Disc Replacement Recovery
Disc Replacement vs. Fusion
Meet Your Spine Surgeon: Dr. Joseph Pyun
Who Qualifies for Disc Replacement vs. Fusion?
Request an Appointment
Tell us what's going on.
Share a few details and our team will help guide the next step — whether that's an evaluation, a second opinion, or pointing you to the right kind of care.
Second Opinions
Told you may need spine surgery? Get clarity first.
If surgery has been recommended, Dr. Pyun can review your symptoms, imaging, and prior recommendations to help you understand whether surgery is necessary, whether conservative care may still be appropriate, and what the safest next step may be.
A second opinion is not just about confirming surgery. It is about understanding the problem clearly enough to make the right decision.
Next step
Ready to understand what is causing
your spine pain?
Start with a careful evaluation. Dr. Pyun can help you understand what is happening, what options may be appropriate, and whether conservative care, further evaluation, or surgery should be part of the conversation.
What it is
Why it matters
Patient takeaway
Professional memberships are one part of a physician's overall training, experience, and approach to care.