Brian R. Subach, MD

About

Dr. Brian Subach is driven in his work by seeing patients’ faces and reactions once their pain is gone.

“I help my patients by treating their pain with a surgical solution once more conservative strategies have failed,” he said. “I love the technical aspects of my profession. Quite simply, I fix their necks and backs with a lasting and effective solution when they have nowhere else to turn.”

A board certified and fellowship-trained spinal neurosurgeon, Dr. Subach joined the National Spine and Pain Centers in March 2021. He brings nearly two decades of experience to the practice as he previously worked as a neurosurgeon and held leadership positions at a Northern Virginia-based spine facility and served as division chief for the Division of Spinal Surgery at HCA Reston Hospital.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Kalamazoo College and his Doctor of Medicine from the University of Michigan School of Medicine. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania was the site for his general surgery internship and neurosurgery residency. For three months, he was a visiting resident for neurovascular surgery at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center. He completed a complex spinal disorders fellowship at Emory University/The Emory Clinic in Atlanta, GA.

Through his work, Dr. Subach notes there are two aspects of spinal disease that are crucial to treat — maintaining sagittal balance and minimizing scar tissue formation.

“Some surgical techniques are both minimally-invasive and, unfortunately, minimally-effective,” he said. “The procedure may decompress a nerve root or alleviate pressure on the spinal nerves in the treatment of spinal stenosis while decreasing the cervical or lumbar lordosis (the normal c-shaped shape to both areas). This results in a forward-flexed cervical posture or a flat-back deformity of the lumbar spine.