Mark Piker, MD, joined Valley Neuroscience Institute in 2007 as the Medical Director of the Headache Clinic. He is a fellowship-trained, board-certified neurologist, with more than ninety percent of his practice dedicated to the diagnosis and management of headache disorders. Besides headaches his other subspecialty interest is multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Piker believes that there are various physiological, psychological, and genetical factors that influence the frequency and the severity of headaches; lifestyle choices and personal response to the daily environment affect headaches as well. His approach to the treatment of headaches consists of (a) proper diagnosis of the headache, (b) identifying potential headache triggers, (c) modifying and possibly eliminating triggers, (c) combining non-pharmacological, pharmacological, and cognitive-behavioral modalities for a treatment success.
Dr. Piker performs trigger point injections, occipital nerve blocks, botulinum toxin injections. and treatment of acute intractable headache during clinic working hours. He tries to avoid multiday hospitalizations for intractable headaches; instead, Valley Medical Center's Infusion Center may be used to help break the cycle of runaway pain with intravenous infusion of certain medications.
Dr. Piker graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, with Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing degree in 1997. He received the MD degree from University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, in 2002. He completed four years of neurology residency training, followed by one year subspecialty fellowship training in the management of headache disorders at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA in 2007.
In his spare time he enjoys a variety of outdoor activities, foosball, and throwing his kids at a local Judo dojo.