Dr. Henry S. Guan is a fellowship-trained interventional pain physician who specializes in advanced procedures for spine and musculoskeletal disorders.

A native of California, Dr. Guan grew up in Los Angeles fascinated by the human body. While deciding between his passions for medicine or research, he earned both his Bachelor’s degree in Human Biology and Master’s degree in Biology from the University of California, San Diego. His Master’s thesis, which focused on the structural insights of human fibrinogen, was published in the Journal of Biochemistry and contributed to a better understanding of the protein’s abnormalities in relation to heart attacks.

Dedicating his life to medicine, Dr. Guan attended medical school at Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his internship at Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital, a teaching affiliate of the University of Georgia. He went on to complete his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Chicago, followed by a fellowship in Interventional Pain Management at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon.

Dr. Guan’s deep compassion for patients, especially those with acute and chronic pain, is rooted in his own personal experience with debilitating back pain. At age 23, while preparing for the medical school admission exam, he suffered from severe back pain that made it difficult for him to sit and study for more than an hour at a time. After seeing numerous doctors and receiving a variety of treatment recommendations—ranging from physical therapy to surgery—Dr. Guan became frustrated with the lack of effective solutions, which ultimately sparked his advocacy for pain patients.

Dr. Guan is a physiatrist who is highly trained in a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic spine interventions, including epidural injections, facet joint injections, nerve blocks, nerve ablations, soft tissue and joint injections, trigger point injections, chemodenervation, and neuromodulation (e.g., spinal cord stimulation).

Dr. Guan currently resides in San Francisco and has strong interests in rehabilitation and functional medicine. Outside of work, he enjoys exploring nature with his dog, Apollo, as well as listening to music and attending music and sporting events.