Gerald L. Nickerson, Jr. MD

• Board-certified Physician
• Board-certified Interventional Pain Specialist

Dr. Gerald Nickerson, Jr. is a board-certified physician specializing in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Dr. Nickerson has an additional board certification in pain medicine and is a board-certified interventional pain specialist.

Dr. Nickerson earned his medical doctorate degree from Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee in 1982. He returned to his hometown and trained in a neurosurgery pilot program at King Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Thereafter, Dr. Nickerson traveled to complete a two-year neurology residency at Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC. Following that training, he completed a three-year residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation from the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC, in 1992.

Dr. Nickerson returned home to begin his medical practice serving as medical director of the chronic pain management program and the outpatient rehabilitation – fibromyalgia program which included opiate detoxification at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. There, he also served as associate medical director of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Dr. Nickerson was recruited to Lafayette, Louisiana where he served as the medical director of the inpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation department and outpatient chronic pain programs at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. Dr. Nickerson became an avid educator of the public through TV and radio health broadcasts and provided teaching seminars to other physicians and case managers on how to more comprehensively treat pain syndromes to help improve the quality of life for each patient. Dr. Nickerson was moved to provide additional specialty services to his patients to further relieve suffering from acute and chronic pain and was drawn to become an interventional pain specialist in 2004.

He is skilled and experienced in the utilization of multiple disciplinary rehabilitation, rational poly-pharmaceutical methodology, and diagnostic/therapeutic interventional procedures for the non-operative management of acute and chronic pain. Dr. Nickerson is committed to improving the quality of life by finding the optimal treatment plan for alleviating pain and enhancing function for every patient.

Dr. Nickerson served as president of the National Medical Association, Dr. Joseph Tyler Chapter in Lafayette, Louisiana, and he is a Diplomate of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.