Dr. Cynthia B Piccirilli, MD

At the age of 19, I began suffering from back and leg pain after special operation training. 4-12 mile daily ruck marches with 60-120lbs destroyed my back and caused me to develop severe pain from sciatica. I could no longer run, ruck, jump, jog, swim, weight lift, or even sit in class and focus without being in extreme pain. I initially visited my ER physician in Texas and was told I had stress fractures in my legs (true but not the cause of the pain). After no resolve, I was sent to a physical therapist for a back strain. After 3 months of that, I grew worse. I then saw my primary care physician who said it was my IT band and he sent me to physical therapy again. This physical therapist was convinced I had ITB syndrome. After 6 months of PT with him, I grew much worse and life was becoming a gloom of constantly being in pain and not being able to enjoy any physical activity. I became very depressed and started falling behind in school and in my physical fitness goals. My new physical… therapist insisted I had ITB syndrome and implied I wasn't working hard enough to help myself. After 6 months of getting worse, he said he'd send me back to primary care so "the government could waste money on an MRI". Got the MRI at a training base in Ohio and was told by my primary care physician that it "wasn't normal". When I arrived in Virginia, my new primary care PA insisted I had ITB syndrome without looking at my MRI, even though I asked her to. I then refused to do PT again and requested a referral to a specialist. She referred me to NMCP Neurosurgery. I met with Dr. Piccirilli and that was the first time in almost 2 years I felt I was being talked to by someone who actually cared. She seemed to be legitimately concerned about my well being and understanding of the pain I was in. She looked at my MRI with me and explained it to me for a while. My L4 and L5 discs were herniated and she even helped illustrate this with a 3D model she had in the office. She then discussed my options with me and after talking about it, we agreed surgery was the best option. I was living alone at the time so it was difficult to coordinate a ride home but she worked with my schedule. She even spoke to my military leadership and explained to them why the surgery was necessary and why I'd need to be out of work for a while. I was 20 years old at the time without no medical history so the thought of surgery terrified me. She explained the risks but seemed very confident in her ability which helped put me at ease. On the day of the surgery, she met with me before I went under and then met with me afterwards. A few days after the surgery, I could feel a dramatic difference. The pain was gone. I could now sit, run, weight lift, ruck march, and do everything I love to do, without taking a single pill, EVER. I'm writing this review 2 years after my surgery and to this day, I thank Dr. Piccirilli for giving me back my life. She was the best medical professional I've ever met and has inspired me to pursue a career as a physician.