Pearl District
Open until 7pm1420 NW Lovejoy St, Portland OR 97209
Dr. Karlsen's hours here
- Wednesday
- 8:30am – 5:00pm
- Thursday
- 8:30am – 5:00pm
2.4 mi away(503) 555-0142
Directions to Pearl DistrictDr. Elias Karlsen
Chief of Neurology, with a headache clinic that takes most of his week. He sees the migraine, the tremor and the numbness that a scan has already come back normal on.
- 4.8 from 103 reviews
- English, Norwegian, Danish
- Next: Wednesday, 9:00am
Clinical philosophy
The examination still beats the scan
A neurological examination done properly tells you where the problem is. Imaging tells you what it is, and only once you know where to look — which is why he examines first and orders second.
A normal MRI is not the end of a consultation. Most headache and most dizziness has no structural cause and a very treatable one, and being told 'nothing showed up' without a plan helps nobody.
He writes the diagnosis down in plain words and gives you the sheet. Neurological terms are long and frightening and most of them mean something ordinary.
At a glance
- Sees patients
- Wed, Thu, Fri
- Appointment length
- 45 minutes
- Practising since
- 2005
- Referral needed
- No
- Primary clinic
- Pearl District, Lloyd Center
Focus areas
What he sees most
Fourteen things he treats regularly. Anything outside them he refers inside the practice rather than sending you to find someone yourself.
- Migraine
- Cluster headache
- Medication-overuse headache
- Epilepsy
- Essential tremor
- Parkinson's disease
- Multiple sclerosis follow-up
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Dizziness and vertigo
- Facial pain
- Memory concerns
- Post-concussion symptoms
- Norwegian-speaking patients
- Danish-speaking patients
Training
Where he trained
Nineteen years of education, research and certification, and continuous recertification since.
BSc, Neuroscience — University of Oslo
Oslo. Undergraduate work on cortical spreading depression, which is still what he thinks about.
MD — University of Oslo
Oslo. Clinical years at Rikshospitalet.
PhD, headache physiology — Karolinska Institute
Stockholm. Thesis on trigeminal sensitisation in chronic migraine.
Residency, neurology — Oregon Health & Science University
Portland. Four years, with a final-year headache fellowship.
Board certified in neurology
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Recertified in 2019.
Licensed in Oregon, and joined this practice
Licence MD34188. He opened the headache clinic that now runs three days a week.
Credentials
Board certifications and memberships
Current as of March 2026. Each body below publishes its own registry, so every line here is verifiable without asking us.
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Board certified in neurology since 2009, recertified in 2019. Diplomate no. 198–6614.
Oregon Medical Board
Licensed in Oregon since 2016, licence MD34188. No disciplinary action on record.
American Academy of Neurology
Fellow since 2015. Sits on the headache and facial pain section's education group.
International Headache Society
Member since 2006. Contributed to the third edition's field-testing programme.
Selected work
Publications and awards
Four papers and three awards, most recent first. A full bibliography is available on request.
Publications
- CGRP inhibitors after two failed preventives: a community cohort
- Cephalalgia · 2024
- What patients hear when a scan is normal
- Neurology · 2022
- Medication-overuse headache in a primary care panel
- Oregon Medical Journal · 2019
- Trigeminal sensitisation in chronic migraine
- Brain · 2004
Awards
- Teaching Award
- OHSU Department of Neurology · 2022
- Patients' Choice Award
- Portland Monthly · 2023
- Top Doctors, neurology
- Portland Monthly · 2021–2025
Everything above is indexed in PubMed or the awarding body's own register.
Request full CV for Dr. KarlsenWhere to find him
Locations and office hours
Lloyd Center
Open 24 hours1200 NE Multnomah St, Portland OR 97232
Dr. Karlsen's hours here
- Friday
- 9:00am – 2:00pm
3.8 mi away(503) 555-0177
Directions to Lloyd Center
Availability
Book a time with him
Live availability for this week. Monday and Tuesday are ward and reporting days, so clinic starts Wednesday.
Reviews
What his patients say
4.8
from 103 reviews
- 5 stars
- 85
- 4 stars
- 13
- 3 stars
- 3
- 2 stars
- 1
- 1 star
- 1
Three people had told me my scan was normal and left it there. He was the first to say what was actually causing it.
Maya EllisonPatient since 2020He spent twenty minutes examining me before he touched the computer. I have not had that since medical school stories.
Daniel ChoPatient since 2022I left with a sheet of paper explaining my diagnosis in normal words. My mother read it and stopped panicking.
Rosa IglesiasPatient since 2019
Elsewhere in the practice
Other clinicians accepting new patients
Ready when you are
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