Dr. Rod Oskouian

Dr. Rod Oskouian Rod J. Dedicated to advancing spinal care through research, education, and innovation.

Oskouian, MD, FAANS
Chief of Spine, Specializing in spinal disorders, including scoliosis, spinal deformities, spinal tumors, and minimally invasive spine surgery.

Few understand the pressure, uncertainty, and responsibility to hold someone’s life in your hands.Neurosurgery teaches y...
05/19/2026

Few understand the pressure, uncertainty, and responsibility to hold someone’s life in your hands.

Neurosurgery teaches you that steady hands come from disciplined minds.

Everyone wants the title.Very few people want the sacrifice behind it.Medicine will test your discipline, patience, slee...
05/11/2026

Everyone wants the title.
Very few people want the sacrifice behind it.

Medicine will test your discipline, patience, sleep, relationships, and identity long before it rewards you.

The white coat means nothing if you’re unwilling to carry the weight that comes with it.

Neurosurgery teaches you to carry pressure and put others first.Just don’t forget there’s a human being under the scrubs...
05/10/2026

Neurosurgery teaches you to carry pressure and put others first.

Just don’t forget there’s a human being under the scrubs too.

Burnout isn’t just emotional exhaustion.Chronic stress changes the brain itself.Research has shown reduced activity and ...
05/08/2026

Burnout isn’t just emotional exhaustion.
Chronic stress changes the brain itself.

Research has shown reduced activity and gray matter changes in the prefrontal cortex, increased amygdala activation, and disrupted dopamine regulation with prolonged burnout and stress exposure.

When your brain stays in survival mode long enough, focus, motivation, memory, and emotional control begin to suffer.

Sleep. Recovery. Boundaries. Purpose.
They’re not luxuries. They’re neuroprotection.

The brain’s reward circuitry drives far more than appetite. When cravings change, behaviors change too.Dopamine, impuls...
05/07/2026

The brain’s reward circuitry drives far more than appetite. When cravings change, behaviors change too.

Dopamine, impulse control, reward prediction, and habit formation are all deeply connected through neural pathways involving the hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens, and prefrontal cortex.

This is why many patients describe changes not only in hunger, but in alcohol use, compulsive behaviors, and addictive patterns.

The brain is more powerful than most people realize.

05/06/2026

Estrogen is a neurosteroid. It drives synaptic plasticity, regulates cerebral blood flow, reduces neuroinflammation, and shields neurons from oxidative damage. When estrogen falls at menopause, the brain feels it. Memory. Mood. Sleep. Verbal fluency. The risk of Alzheimer’s climbs in step.
So why isn’t it prescribed?
In 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative reported increased risks with hormone therapy. Prescriptions collapsed overnight. A generation of women went without.
The data was later reanalyzed. Timing matters. Women who start near menopause, inside the critical window, show neuroprotective benefit, not harm. The original risk signal came from women starting decades after their last period.
The correction never made the headlines. Most physicians trained after 2002 inherited the fear, not the nuance.
Twenty years of preventable cognitive loss.

Your brain changes based on what you repeatedly do, think, and tolerate.Focus, discipline, sleep, movement, purpose, and...
05/06/2026

Your brain changes based on what you repeatedly do, think, and tolerate.

Focus, discipline, sleep, movement, purpose, and the people around you all shape neural pathways over time.

You are not stuck with the mind you have today.
Neuroplasticity is real.

05/06/2026

No revenge. Just quiet work, long hours, and staying focused while everyone else talks.

05/06/2026

Some days in medicine drain you completely. But being able to change lives, help patients, and honor the sacrifices that got you here makes it worth it every time.

05/06/2026

People see the scrubs. They don’t see the sacrifice behind them.

Years of pressure, discipline, missed moments, and sleepless nights all to take care of others.

Address

550 17th Avenue Suite 500
Seattle, WA
98122

Telephone

+12063202800

Website

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