Ram Mudiyam, MD, MBA – OC Spine & Joint

Dr. M is very personable, speaks easily and at length about my condition. I left knowing much more about the surgery I was facing. I am very glad I didnt go to the recom. of my primary doc as they were quick to fix without fully investigating and understanding. I am super happy to have time to get the images necessary and hopeful that time will heal. If not, I feel certain I am in the right hands. I did not have to wait long to see the doc. The staff was friendly and concerned for my pain. The chairs in the large lobby were sublime, almost like a lazyboy. The offices were clean and pleasant.

I called to schedule my first appointment, was told the first available appointment was over a month out. I was shocked but it is what it is and I made my appointment. About a week before my appointment I received a call stating that they needed to move my appointment. Again not a problem it is what it is. Now here we are the day of, after waiting well over a month and I got another call (approximately 4.5 hours before my appointment time) stating that the doctor was tied up and couldn’t make the appointment so I am forced to reschedule yet again. The thing that makes me mad the most is that they have the nerve to state that if the patient cancels for any reason within 24 hours they will be charged a $ 35.00 cancellation fee, but they feel it is alright to have the doctor cancel within hours of the appointment and you guessed it, they will not pay you the same $ 35.00 for your inconvenience!
Mary Ann was very polite and apologetic, however the lady who normally gives me a call is not the type of person I would have making contact with the patients. There is a saying «It’s not what you say it’s how you say it» well if you sound like you do not want to be working at that office and are annoyed what makes you think new or current patients and going to want to deal with that, especially when being tossed around like a bean bag just to be seen.

I came to Dr. Mudiyam for a second opinion. I have a L5S1 ruptured disc with horrible sciatica and periformis pain. He spent a great deal of time with my Mother and I which I needed. Made me feel comfortable with his expertise and confidence to fix my busted back. Probably will get surgery and pray for the best. Anything is better than my current state of Hell. Quality of life has gone from almost perfect to now I envy the bums I walk by in L.A.
The wait time was longer than norm, but hey its worth the wait. My wife is a Physician and they really do try to book people the best they can but with surgeries schedule its important to be flexible. BTW, I’m 35 and extremely active. I will update this post once I have had surgery or other treatment.

Dr. Mudiyam performed a 4 level disc laminectomy on me in Jan of 2013, due to degenerative disc. I had been bedridden for a month prior to that and couldn’t get in because it was over the Christmas holidays. But the day after surgery, I was gotten out of bed and was able to walk around, with a walker, in the hospital. I just cannot believe what an impact this surgery made on my life. I had this done when I was 63, so I was no young man, though I was in decent shape. I only gave a 4 star because of the sometimes extended wait. Office staff is friendly and helpful. Surgery is done mostly at Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Irvine.

In February, an MRI revealed a ruptured L4/​L5 disc, which resulted in unimaginable pain in my left leg. My left calf was in constant spasms, and in the evenings, sometimes my ENTIRE left leg was in the worst pain possible. I’ve had kidney stones, and they feel like a massage compared to this. Some nights, I would literally pass out from the pain to sleep, probably averaging 3 – 4 hours per night. I tried conservative treatments like chiro, acupuncture and massage and was getting mixed results but no visible improvement.
Last Friday, ³⁄₁₃ I made two appointments with spine surgeons. In the AM, I had an appointment at Hoag. The surgeon was two hours late for the appointment while I wait with intense leg spasms. He looks at my MRI for a few minutes and suggests Oxy + Prednisone over the weekend and to come back for a spinal on Monday if I didnt feel better.
After lunch we saw Dr. Mudiyam. I was immediately seen by him. He sat up on the exam table with me and we went through the MRI frame-​by-​frame. The L4/​L5 actually showed a detached disc that was not going to improve on its own, or through a steroid injection. We mutually came to the conclusion that pain management was not an option and I needed surgery.
Surgery was yesterday. I was pretty squeamish about it since I’ve never been put under before. When he opened me up, scar tissue had begun to form around the disc fragment that was now fully detached so the procedure took about twice as long. I’m recovering at home now. He just called and asked how I was feeling — on a Saturday, as well as several times yesterday.
I cannot recommend Dr. Mudiyam any more highly. In addition, his PA, Shawna is fantastic as are Marianne and Maria.
If you are having this level of back pain, you need to take care of it and not put it off, since long term nerve damage can develop, and this is permanent. While sometimes a bulged disc will go back to normal with chiro or spinal injections, a more serious problem like mine needs attention. Please see Dr. Mudiyam.

I saw Dr. Mudiyam yesterday because of continuous lower back pain. Immaculate office, friendly staff & quick service! I’m very impressed. It was fantastic to go over my X rays & MRI in detail & «see» what’s going on so I can better understand. What a wonderful doctor he is. Friendly, patient & brilliant! I finally feel that I’m on the road to recovery! Soooo tremendously happy! Sooooo tremendously thankful I selected «him» out of everyone else (as I am here temporarily due to my husband’s work). A huge resounding «thank you» to Dr. Mudiyam & his entire staff! I strongly recommend this place. :)

If you want poor service and wait almost two hours just to be seen for two minutes, then you’ve found a great piece of s**t doctor. My boyfriend just had back surgery and this doctor has gotten from bad to just plain s**tty. I’m warning you, DON’T BOTHER WITH THIS «DOCTOR». He obviously doesn’t care about his patients.
Like I mentioned before, my boyfriend had back surgery due to his sciatica. Dr. Mudiyam only babe him 12 sessions of physical therapy, which is unheard of. Luckily he has PPO so he doesn’t need a referral and has continued with his treatment. The only reason we are here today is to collect all the information we need, all the records from the surgery, the last MRI, etc, so that we can give them to our new doctor at Newport Orthopedic Institute. I myself am a patient at Newport and although the front desk is ok, the doctors are great. They have and outpatient service, all the machines they need to properly diagnose you, everything to HELP YOU GET BETTER!
This guy is a joke. We’re not seeking any special treatment, I don’t want this guy to be my friend, I just want him to do his job and treat patients. We’re asking for help with my bf sciatica problem. Luckly we work for a great company that has an amazing medical insurance package. Otherwise we would be really screwed.