Double Board-Certified Pain Management Physician in Burbank, CA
Meet Dr. John A. G. Villanueva
I became a physician because medicine gave me the opportunity to combine two things that have always mattered to me: understanding difficult problems and helping people through moments when they feel vulnerable.
Today, as a physician double board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, or PM&R, and Pain Medicine, I care for people with chronic pain, spine conditions, nerve disorders, joint problems, and other conditions that can make everyday life much harder than it used to be. I founded Villanueva Institute of Pain and Spine (VIPS) in Burbank in 2014, and it has grown into a trusted practice for patients throughout the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles area.
I am proud to bring the additional expertise of a Certified Life Care Planner to my work. Along with my double-board certifications, this specialized training enables me to assess the long-term medical, rehabilitation, and future care needs of individuals with complex injuries and disabilities.
My approach at VIPS, Villanueva Institute of Pain and Spine, begins with listening. I want to know what you are feeling, but I also want to know what aspects of your life your pain has changed. Are you having trouble working? Exercising? Sleeping? Walking with your spouse? Picking up your child? Getting through a drive without shifting constantly in your seat?
Those details help me understand the person behind the diagnosis.
I have spent my career studying the complicated relationship between pain, the nervous system, the musculoskeletal system, movement, and function. Just as importantly, I have learned that people often arrive at a pain management office after feeling unheard elsewhere. I want your experience here to be different. I have been recognized as a Super Doctor by the Los Angeles Times and a Top Doctor by Los Angeles Magazine, and I’m proud that fellow physicians and surgeons view me as a trusted expert in interventional pain management.
To schedule a consultation with me at our Burbank office, call (818) 669-8895 or request an appointment online. We proudly serve patients from Burbank, Glendale, Toluca Lake, Studio City, North Hollywood, and the greater Los Angeles area.
Why I Chose Pain Medicine
My connection to this field started long before medical school.
My mother was born with severe congenital scoliosis. Growing up, I accompanied her to orthopedic appointments and watched her go through three spinal fusion surgeries. Her first surgery took place at the University of Minnesota Medical Center when I was still a baby. Years later, I would return to that same university as a medical student.
The surgeries addressed the progression of her spinal deformity, but her chronic pain remained. She lived with pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness that I did not understand as a child.
I remember how helpless that felt.
Those experiences stayed with me and eventually gave direction to my curiosity. I wanted to understand why people hurt, why symptoms sometimes continue even after major treatment, and how the nervous and musculoskeletal systems interact.
The experience of caring for my mother shaped my interest in understanding musculoskeletal, neurological, and pain pathophysiology in a more structured way, and ultimately guided me toward both PM&R and interventional pain management.
That history still affects the way I speak with patients today. When someone has been hurting for years and cannot understand why, I know how frustrating and frightening that uncertainty can be.
Sometimes one of the most valuable things I can give a patient is a clearer explanation of what may be happening.
My Approach to Patient Care
I usually begin a new consultation by sitting down and listening. If you have sent records ahead of time, I review them. If you bring previous MRIs, CT scans, or X-rays, I want to see the actual images when possible, rather than relying only on the written radiology report.
Then I want to hear the history from you.
Pain rarely exists in isolation; hip pain may originate in the lumbar spine, and weakness or tingling can point to a neurological problem. An MRI may show several abnormalities, but only one may actually be responsible for the symptoms that brought you in.
My consultations include a physical and neurological examination, personal review of relevant imaging, and a discussion of what I think is happening. When needed, I can also perform EMG and nerve conduction studies to investigate certain nerve and muscle conditions.
Your unique plan may involve physical therapy, medication management, rehabilitation, diagnostic testing, an image-guided procedure, regenerative medicine (including PRP), or another approach. VIPS offers interventional pain management procedures ranging from epidural injections and radiofrequency ablation to nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulation, Intracept®, the mild® procedure, and other treatments.
There are also times when I tell a patient that the procedure they came in requesting is unlikely to help. If I review your imaging and believe you would be better served by speaking with a surgeon, I will tell you that.
I believe that my patients deserve this kind of transparency. My recommendation should reflect what I genuinely believe is medically appropriate for you, even when the answer is different from what either of us expected when the visit began.
Double Board Certified Expertise
My training in PM&R and Pain Medicine gives me two closely connected ways of looking at a problem.
Pain Medicine allows me to diagnose and treat specific pain generators using interventional techniques. PM&R gives me a strong background in musculoskeletal medicine, neurological disorders, rehabilitation, movement, and function.
That combination is especially valuable when symptoms are complicated. Many patients do not present with a single, straightforward source of pain, but rather a mix of overlapping issues involving the spine, nerves, muscles, and joints. Having training in both rehabilitation medicine and interventional pain management allows me to sort through these layers carefully and build a treatment plan that addresses not just where the pain is coming from, but why it is persisting and how it is affecting overall function.
I am interested in where your pain originates, but also in what it is doing to the rest of your life. Can you move the way you need to? Has weakness changed the way you walk? Are you avoiding activities because you know they will hurt later? Has pain kept you from participating in rehabilitation?
My PM&R training naturally brings those questions into the conversation, helping ensure that treatment plans focus not only on pain relief but also on restoring strength, mobility, and overall function in daily life.
Education and Medical Training
I was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and grew up between Minneapolis and Los Angeles. I completed my undergraduate education, with honors, at Cornell University, an Ivy League institution, in Ithaca, New York, studying in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology within the College of Arts and Sciences. I later returned to Minnesota to earn my medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School.
During medical school, I received the William Knobloch Merit Scholarship and the David E. Rogers Research Fellowship from the New York Academy of Medicine.
I completed my internship at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, a Level I Trauma Center, followed by residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia.
I remained at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for fellowship training in Pain Management through the Department of Anesthesiology.
I am double board-certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine and am a Fellow of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. In 2025, I completed additional training in Life Care Planning through FIG Education, Inc., and I hold the credential Life Care Planning – Certified (LCP-C). This training reflects specialized preparation in assessing the long-term medical, rehabilitation, and future care needs of individuals with complex injuries and disabilities, and it further supports my work as a medical-legal consultant and expert medical witness.
Those credentials are important, but I have never thought that the letters after a physician’s name tell the entire story. The way that training is applied when another person is sitting across from you matters just as much.
Clinical Research and Medical Education
I have always been curious about medicine, and that curiosity did not end when my formal training was finished.
Clinical research is an active part of what we do at VIPS. Research from our practice has been presented through the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. I have also published multiple journal articles in the field of interventional pain management, and this original research has additionally been presented at the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.
I also work closely with students who are preparing for careers in medicine and other health professions through the VIPS Pre-Medicine and Pre-Health Internship Program.
More than 30 interns have completed the program. Students gain exposure to clinical medicine as well as opportunities to participate in research, and alumni have gone on to medical schools including Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, USC Keck, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Davis, the University of Minnesota, and many others.
Mentoring is something I take seriously. I remember the people who encouraged me when I was a student. The University of Minnesota was particularly meaningful in that regard. I benefited from the support of the medical school’s Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and from relationships within the Student National Medical Association community. Those connections stayed with me well after graduation.
Now I have the privilege of extending that same encouragement to a new generation of learners and future physicians.
Teaching also plays an important role in keeping me intellectually engaged. When students ask why we approach a condition or procedure in a particular way, it challenges us to think more deeply and articulate the reasoning behind our decisions. This ongoing dialogue is essential to the practice of thoughtful, evidence-based medicine.
Care That Is Personal, Direct, and Respectful
Many of the people who come to VIPS have been dealing with pain for a long time.
It is not uncommon for patients to feel frustrated by the time they arrive here. They may have already seen several physicians, repeated their history multiple times, or felt that their concerns were not fully addressed. I understand that.
In those moments, my goal is to listen carefully and understand the symptoms and the experience that led them here. Many patients come in feeling guarded because of what they have gone through elsewhere, and it is important to acknowledge that and create space for a different kind of conversation.
I also believe patients value honesty. I will always be direct about what I think is medically appropriate, even when that means having a difficult conversation. At the same time, I try to do that respectfully, thoughtfully, and with the patient’s well-being at the center.
In my experience, the best outcomes happen when there is trust on both sides and when we can speak openly with one another. Over the years, my practice has also welcomed a number of well-known and celebrity patients, but that has never changed my fundamental belief that every patient deserves the same high standard of care, regardless of their background.
What Success Looks Like to Me
I do not define success solely by a reduction in pain scores, because numbers alone rarely capture what truly matters in a person’s recovery. More important is what that improvement means in your daily life and whether it meaningfully changes how you move through your day.
Can you return to exercise, or walk longer distances with less limitation than before? Have you been able to resume work or academic activities in a way that feels sustainable rather than forced? Can you comfortably participate in family meals or social activities without constantly adjusting your position or planning around discomfort? And perhaps most importantly, are you able to care for your children or spend time with your spouse without having to structure your entire day around pain?
Pain reduction matters, but functional improvement gives that reduction clinical meaning. In my practice, I emphasize that while complete resolution of chronic pain is not always achievable, meaningful improvement in function and quality of life is often a realistic and valuable goal, and one that can make a profound difference in how you experience your life day to day.
A Physician Who Calls Burbank Home
Burbank is where I practice medicine, and it is also home.
I was born in Minnesota and spent part of my childhood in Los Angeles, and both places continue to shape how I approach my work and my patients. I value the straightforward, community-minded sensibility I associate with the Midwest, and I also appreciate the diversity and energy of Los Angeles.
Burbank brings those two influences together in a way that feels natural. I live here, and VIPS is located in Magnolia Park, serving patients from across Burbank and the greater San Fernando Valley. Our patients include people working in film and television, healthcare professionals, teachers, parents, students, and local business owners.
Music, Media, and Life Outside Medicine
I am also a pianist and vocalist. My YouTube channel, Dr. Jay Piano, has grown to more than 10,000 subscribers, with performances that have received millions of views. One of my piano and vocal covers was featured during a Grammy Awards broadcast segment highlighting YouTube artists.
I was also selected from more than 10,000 audition tapes to appear on HGTV’s House Hunters: Bachelor Pads while looking for my first home as a new attending physician in Burbank. I have also appeared as a featured guest on CBS.
Long before podcasts became a common part of health media, I also hosted Happy Health Radio on America Talklive. The show centered on open conversations about health and wellbeing, including subjects people sometimes find difficult to discuss. The idea behind it was simple: listen first, understand the problem, and then have an honest conversation about what might help.
Outside of medicine and music, I enjoy cooking, gardening, traveling, spending time outdoors, mentoring students, running, and cycling. I also have a long-standing interest in language and communication, and I speak English, Tagalog, Spanish, and Classical Latin.
These aspects of life matter to me because patients have lives outside the examination room too. When pain takes someone away from the things that make them feel like themselves, I understand why getting those things back can matter so much.
Schedule a Consultation with Dr. John Villanueva in Burbank
If you are looking for a pain management physician in Burbank, Glendale, Toluca Lake, Studio City, North Hollywood, Pasadena, or the surrounding Los Angeles area, call (818) 669-8895 or contact VIPS to schedule a consultation. We look forward to hearing from you soon.