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Daniel Southern, M.D. ​

Interventional Orthopedic Medicine Physiatrist in CT

Daniel Southern, M.D. is an Interventional Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Physiatrist in CT dedicated to helping people minimize or eliminate acute or chronic joint pain and arthritis through advanced non-surgical treatments. Dr. Southern is fellowship trained in Spine and Sports Medicine at the Hospital for Special Surgery and trained in physiatry at Cornell (now New York Presbyterian Hospital) and SUNY Downstate Medical Center. As an avid athlete and former professional dancer, he has a keen sense of the physical demands and effects that pain compromised movement can have on sports performance as well as every day mobility and daily lifestyles.

Seeking help for a chronic back problem, Dr Southern stumbled upon a physiatrist in Belgium while on tour with a professional dance company in 1995. He decided to train in physiatry in medical school to pursue the holistic, non-surgical approach to musculoskeletal injuries. After 20 years of being an interventional physiatrist in CT, his search for even better methods of helping the body help itself led him into the new field of Interventional Orthopedics. He began training 4 years ago at the Interventional Orthopedics Foundation (IOF) in state-of-the-art regenerative medicine.

More About Our CT Physiatrist & Regenerative Treatments

Today, Dr. Southern specializes in Regenerative Orthopedic Medicine treatments that include many non-surgical options. These include precisely targeted interventional orthopedic injections that use bone marrow stem cells, platelet rich blood plasma, and alpha-2 macroglobulin (A2M) in disc regenerative therapy and joint regenerative therapy for common work or sports injuries.. In many instances, Dr. Southern can provide an alternative for patients considering invasive surgery or joint replacement who hope to avoid the painful rehabilitation and long period of restricted activity that comes with surgery. Dr. Southern often finds that Regenerative Orthopedic treatment may also be appropriate for patients with other medical conditions that make the risks and complications of invasive surgery less attractive.

Given his athletic background, years of clinical experience and training in regenerative interventional orthopedics, Dr Southern ranks among the best physiatrists in CT for treatment of joint pain and arthritis. Dr. Southern is Board Certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation as well as Pain Medicine and Sports Medicine.

Curriculum Vitae

Daniel Southern, M.D.

Areas Of Specialty

  • Regenerative Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
  • Back and Neck pain
  • Nonoperative Musculoskeletal and Peripheral Nerve Injury

Board Certification

  • American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physiatry (2004)
  • Pain Medicine (2005)
  • Sports Medicine (2009)

Licensure

  • New York State (2001)
  • Connecticut (2004)

Hospital Affiliation

  • Danbury Hospital, Danbury, CT

Professional Employment

  • 2019 – Present: Interventional Orthopedics CT
  • 10/2004 – 2019: Danbury Orthopedics / OrthoConnecticut

POSTGRADUATE TRAINING

8/2003 – 7/2004: Fellowship

Spine and Sports
Department of Physiatry
Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY

2000 – 2003: Resident

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
New York Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, NY

1999 – 2000: Internship

St. Barnabas Medical Center, Livingston, NJ

EDUCATION:

9/1995 – 5/1999: Medical

Doctor of Medicine
State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn (Downstate), Brooklyn, NY

1/1993 – 7/1994: Postbaccalaureate

City University of New York/Hunter College
New York, NY

10/1972 – 3/1977: Undergraduate

Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Arts (with honors)
University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:

American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
American Society of International Pain Physicians
International Spine Intervention Society
American Academy of Pain Medicine

HONORS AND AWARDS:

2004: Else Adler Research Award, Hospital for Special Surgery
2007: Research Honorarium, New York Medical Society
1999: Trude Perelman Award
1997 & 1998: Joseph Collins Foundation Scholarship
1996: Actors Equity Work Scholarship
1986: March of Dimes Distinguished Service Award
1976: Evelyn I. Eisner Prize for Excellence in Acting, Directing, and Dance

PUBLICATIONS:

Southern D, Lutz GE, Cooper G, Barre L. Are Fluoroscopic Caudal Epidural Steroid Injections Effective in the Management of Chronic Low Back Pain? Pain Physician 2003;6(2):167-172.

Vad V., Southern D. Prevalence of Peripheral Neurologic Injuries in Rotator Cuff Tears with Atrophy. J Shoulder and Elbow Surg 2003;12:333-6.

Barre L, Lutz G, Southern D, Cooper G. Fluoroscopically Guided Caudal Epidural Steroid Injections for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis: A Prospective Evaluation of Long Term Efficacy. Pain Physician 2004;7(2):187-193.

Southern D, Lutz G. IDET Technique. In Interventional Spine: An Algorithmic Approach. Slipman C, Derby R, editors. Elsevier Publications2008.

Southern D, Lutz G, Bracilovic A, et al. Histological and Molecular Structure Characterization of Annular Collagen after Intradiscal Electrothermal Annuloplasty. HSS Journal: The Musculoskeletal Journal of the Hospital For Special Surgery 2005; 1: 68-74.

PRESENTATIONS:

5/2002: Presentation of original research: Prevalence of Peripheral Neurologic Injuries in Rotator Cuff Tears with Atrophy. New York Medical Society, New York City, NY.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

6/1976 – 10/1997: Employed as an actor, dancer, and director on stages throughout the United States, South America, and Europe including television, feature films, and radio.