After herniating a disc in my neck, I was able to get into see Dr. Lin and the experience from the first appointment through surgery follow-up has been amazing. He discussed options for the disc, encouraged complimentary therapies, and then talked through surgery when nothing brought relief. The surgery (cervical artificial disc replacement) was miraculous. Nerve pain was gone immediately and now, six weeks post-surgery, I am feeling like me old self. Dr. Lin was patient, thorough, and answered my (many questions). Erika, his nurse, and Genevieve, the nurse practitioner, were equally top notch. You are in great hands with Dr. Lin. read more

Dr Ali ordered an X-ray and explained to me in detail what had happened which was the cause of my back pain. He also set me up for physical therapy sessions to help alleviate the pain. read more

I would highly recommend Dr. Lin and his staff. My husband was referred to him for spine issues. His back office staff bent over backwards to make sure we had all of our scheduled appointments before each of his surgeries (one in July 2021 and one June 2022). We saw Dr. Lin's PA, Genevieve, several times before and after the surgeries. Genevieve, as with Dr. Lin, was very compassionate and spent as much time as needed with us to make sure we felt comfortable and that all of our questions were answered. read more

What a blessing it is to have been led by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to see Dr Eric Lin. He is the most caring loving smart doctor I know. I trust him 100%. My surgery was a complete success!!! I would highly recommend him to anyone with spinal disc problems and even surgery. You won't be disappointed. Thank you Dr Lin. Barbara read more

I have have now had spinal stenosis twice, once in 2015 and again in 2020. In both cases the stenosis was causing pain when I tried to walk and was really starting to impact my lifestyle. Dr Lin performed outpatient surgery on me, in both instances, and the relief was immediate. It was fantastic. Being able to walk with no pain is something you don't appreciate until you can't do it! I was extremely pleased with Dr Lin as well as the staff in the Align Spine Center. read more

Dr. Lin performed a spinal fusion L5-S1 surgery on my back. I am completely PAIN FREE now and owe it all to him! Dr. Lin and his entire office are very professional, kind, and go out of their way to make their patients feel comfortable. I am almost 5 months post surgery and I am able to get back to the things I enjoyed in life before my back pain started. Back pain is life changing, and I'm happy to report that with Dr. Lin's expertise, my back surgery was also life changing.....for the BETTER! read more

I had been suffering with neck pain for decades. I hesitated to do anything about it due to my past reaction (violently ill) to anesthesia. Things changed in January of 2019 - my left arm would be numb about 80% of the time & I had excruciating nerve pain (my daily pain scale was always between 6 - 8, on a 10 scale!) My quality of life was so bad I finally had to do something! I chose Dr. Lin because he had done my wife's back surgery approximately 10 years ago, & it was VERY successful - fixing her problems completely! Dr. Lin told me we could mask my problems with meds & epidurals, or since it was mechanical, he could go in & fix it, once & for all! At this point, I was ready to try anything! As with my wife, I knew IMMEDIATELY (after waking up from surgery) that he had fixed the problem! For the first time in 30 years, I was pain free!!! Additionally, by telling my Anesthesiologist my concerns & prior issues, she worked her magic & I never got nauseated! I CAN UNHESITATINGLY RECOMMEND DR. LIN FOR ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOUR SPINE!!! read more

Dr. Eric Lin is a top notch Spine Surgeon in Orange County! He and everyone at Align Spine Center provided excellent, well-informed care during each visit, pre & post op. Following conservative treatment, Dr. Lin performed an orthoscopic microdiscectomy which went excellent. I am now six months post surgery and back to doing all the activities I love. Thank you Dr. Lin and everyone at Align Spine Center for restoring my quality of life! read more

Dr. Lin is a great surgeon. My recovery was fairly quick for a three disk fusion! I am back at work with no nerve pain!! I would recommend this surgeon highly! I was given Excellent service with check ins from staff the whole way. I felt supported throughout the entire process. Susan W read more

I would highly recommend Dr. Lin. I had surgery about 10 months ago and all the pain I was in before is gone. I am able to be physically active again without any of the pain I had for 20 years. After about 6 months of recovery he gave me the all clear to go back to normal life. I have been hiking in Yosemite, water skiing, atv riding, swimming, jogging and am looking forward to snow skiing this winter. I am very pleased with the outcome of surgery and couldn't ask for better care. read more

very pleased to be walking and returning to normal activities, thanks to DR. ALI . all questions answered, positive attitude, not waiting long for appts. I would recommend highly. Great recovery, minimum discomfort. Jack Snyder read more

In 2019 Dr Lin preformed a microdiscectomy on me on L2L3. I was in extreme pain and couldn't sleep or even eat. After six weeks l saw Dr Lin and had the procedure. Dr Lin's staff was helpful and efficient. Dr Lin was very knowledgeable and the staff at the hospital also liked working with him. My surgery went well and my recovery also went very well. I would feel very comfortable recommending Dr Lin. read more

I consulted with a couple of Spine Surgeons prior to choosing Dr. Lin for my lumbar fusion. He is conservative in his approach to surgery and recovery was not as difficult as I expected. Super happy with results so far. read more

Dr. Lin was a referral by my PPO and thank God for that! My sciatic pain started two months after my plantar fasciitis surgery in Sept. 2016. After several insurance changes, physical therapy sessions and two epidural cortisone injections I finally told Dr. Lin I was ready for the laminotomy. Within a month I was in surgery and Dr. Lin "cleaned up" the area around my L4-L5. He explained the procedure to me and said I would walk out of the hospital pain free. He was right!! I cannot thank him enough. He also found a cyst in that area that did not show up on my MRI, explaining why my pain was getting worse. After 2 1/2 years of pain I am now pain free after one month post surgery. Thank you Dr. Lin, from the bottom of my heart (and spine!) One more thing. You can put your fears to rest and totally trust in Dr. Lin. He is a skilled, intelligent and personable man. I hope I never need his services again, but if I do I will gladly give him a call. read more

Dr. Lin is a life saver! I had herniated discs and could barely stand or walk without extreme pain! I had pain shooting down my leg all the time and it was life changing. I was not my normal self and couldn't do normal daily activities. Dr. Lin was so understanding and listened and knew exactly how I was feeling. He even moved my original surgery date up after knowing how much pain I was in. Everyone on his staff was so helpful and nice. They answered my questions along the way. I have recommended Dr. Lin to friends and family. The surgery was an easy process and I was pain free as soon as I woke up from the anesthesia. It was the best thing I have done! I am so happy with the results. I had slight inflammation after my surgery and Dr. Lin gave me medicine for that and talked about taking it easy as I get back to my normal routine. I can not say enough good things about Dr. Lin and the surgery! I got my life back thanks to Dr. Lin! read more

After going through three epidurals, months of physical therapy and Chiropractic care for my extreme back pain and leg pain, the only option for me was surgery. I was terrified of having spine surgery because some of my family members had gone through back and neck surgeries, which were not very successful. Two family members had multiple surgeries and are still living on pain medications many years later. During my first visit with Dr. Lin, we went over my MRI. He initially thought he would need to do a Laminectomy at L2-L5 and a fusion at three levels. At my pre-op appointment, Dr. Lin suggested that we only fuse the one level that was absolutely necessary. Because of my past medical history and age, he felt that fusing three levels would be too much for me. He did not want to do too much or too little to resolve my pain issues. After my second visit with Dr. Lin, I was no longer terrified of having surgery. I trusted Dr. Lin and felt my surgery would be successful. I was confident that my pain would go away and I would have my life back. I had lumbar spine surgery approximately three months ago. Dr. Lin was outstanding during my surgery and follow up visits. I am very grateful that Dr. Lin did not do what would benefit him the most, but rather what would be best for me. He is an extremely skilled Surgeon that cares about his patients and what is best for them in all respects. I have been extremely happy with the outcome of my surgery! There have been many times throughout my recovery that I have been very happy that Dr. Lin only did what he felt was necessary. I feel that if he had done a three level fusion, it would have been more than I could handle. Dr. Lin has a wonderful staff and they have been a joy to work with all along the way. I would highly recommend Dr. Lin to anyone needing spine surgery! read more

I have had such poor service from this office. The follow up appointments after two of my epidurals were over an hour late, and one was to be rescheduled because the doctor's PA doesn't work on Fridays. What professionals bumble this stuff up? The pain management doctor tells me to relax during the epidurals, and that I should have been put under. Maybe, they would receive more money if that was the case from insurance. In my second epidural, she dropped the glass vile that she was getting the medicine from shattering it all over the floor during the epidural. The first epidural she hit one of my vertebra instead of my disc to put the medicine in. The third time she brought me back to the room to get my epidural, and there was a patient waiting on the table to get his epidural. I feel it's like the three stooges in this place. The back doctor, Dr. Ali, has only communicated with me twice. He's been nice, but I just can't give my health to this office anymore! Frustrated and feeling uncared for by supposedly a group of professionals. read more

There isn't enough positive things I can say about Dr. Lin. Once I knew I needed surgery on my C6-7 herniated disc, I saw at least 5-6 surgeons and none of them gave me an immediate sense of genuine care like Dr. Lin did. He explained everything so clearly and he was the only doctor to perform a truly thorough muscle weakness test. Other doctors felt I had no weakness but I knew I was impaired and Dr. Lin was able to tell right away. I had numerous questions and he patiently explained everything in a way that was logical, thorough and reassuring. On the day of surgery, I was super nervous and scared but all the nurses in the hospital reassured me how lucky I am to have Dr. Lin as he is "the best of the best". I am now 2 weeks post-op after having an artificial disc replacement and finally on my way to having a normal pain-free life again. I almost never write online reviews, but Dr. Lin deserves it and I hope every person who needs spine surgery gets the chance to see him. His staff, Heidi and Sam are also equally amazing and set the bar very high. read more

In mid-2019, I began experiencing some hamstring soreness that progressively worsened as the year went by. I self-diagnosed my condition as sciatica. I tried chiropractic, acupuncture, massage and even cupping. None proved positive and the pain continued to get worse. I received a postcard in the mail advertising Align Spine Center. I made appointment and met with Dr. Lin and Ms. Luarca, NP. An MRI was scheduled and physical therapy at CORE was approved. I returned for my second visit to review the MRI images only to find that I had severe impingement of my spinal cord at L3-L4, spondylolisthesis. I was told that my only hope of changing my worsening condition was spinal surgery that would re-align the shifted vertebrae. A laminectomy was also advised. I scheduled the surgery for end of January, 2021 (pre-COVID), was in the hospital for 3 days, and out-of-work for 7 weeks. Physical therapy for 6 weeks followed once I was given the green light. I was in the care of both Dr. Lin and Ms. Luarca for one year and and feel great! No pain and re-occurring issues whatsoever. Back to the way things should be. I cannot thank them enough for what they have done to address and alleviate my pain. I leave them with this positive review and encourage others with any similar back-related issues to call on them. If you experience any back pain, do yourself a favour and do not delay seeking their help. You'll be in good, rather, great hands. read more

I have had back issues & problems for over 20 years, and as an athlete it was challenging to maintain the lifestyle and activities I always enjoyed. In the past three years the problems elevated to the point where almost everything I was doing became painful. Dr. Ali was the third Orthopedic Surgeon I saw for my back because I wanted multiple opinions on a protocol for treatment, and he was by far my favorite! He has always taken the time to explain everything thoroughly and thoughtfully, and provided options that didn't include "quitting" everything I love to do. I am fully confident that I am in the best hands possible! Additionally, his medical assistant Erika was incredibly responsive, helpful and professional, and always went out of her way to make me feel like a valued client/patient which is difficult to find in medical offices these days. She was a lifesaver in helping me navigate the process required for treatment! read more