Some people need injections for pain info to get relief from continuous irritation and discomfort. It becomes even more important when they face difficulty doing everyday work because of pain. Doctors recommend different injections depending on the location of the affected areas to help you return to normal life. In this post, we will discuss the types of pain injections and why a person needs them in detail for your better understanding.
Who Needs Injections for Pain?
Long term continuous pain like the pain of an acute injury or back pain needs injections. In this case, you feel discomfort and irritation for days or weeks, but the pain gradually starts to decrease and completely ends after some time.
On the other hand, chronic pain is unrelenting and unpredictable. It can occur every day or can appear randomly. But it never seems that you are getting better. You sometimes feel that you are free from pain one day, and the other day you can barely move. Your life and activities get in flux because you can’t predict when and how the pain will come back.
Chronic pain does not go on its own and needs treatment. These types of pain are not only discomforting, but finding relief from them is even harder. It requires different procedures to find your pain source and treat it after lots of trials and error. This is when the pain-relieving injections can help. They are great to get relief without any severe risks and complications.
Different Types of Pain Injections
Doctors use injections to administer medications into the affected area to reduce pain. These are part of interventional pain management, which relieves pain and also plays a great role in pinpointing the source of the pain.
Doctors usually use X-Ray or MRI scans to identify pain. But it shows more than an area developing pain in your body. When your doctors selectively inject different areas in the spine structure with pain reliever injections, they will start to pinpoint the problem.
Interventional pain management doctors have the qualification, skills, and experience to perform pain injections. An orthopedic surgeon can inject medications or refer you to other specialists.
The following are the types of injections that help to relieve different pain.
Epidural Steroid Injection
Doctors commonly use this injection to give relief to patients suffering from back pain. The epidural steroid injection contains a powerful cortisone solution that your doctor injects directly into your spine. It helps to reduce inflammation and swelling around a nerve or an area of the spinal cord.
This injection is best as most patients who get epidurals feel less pain for several weeks or months. It allows them to take part in a rehabilitation program. Usually, doctors recommend repeating the injections when any symptom starts to surface again.
Selective Nerve Root Injection
This procedure requires X-ray guidance (fluoroscopy) before giving an injection. Doctors use X-rays to locate a specific nerve root. This injection targets the troubled nerve root rather than the entire spine. The procedure needs more tightly focused injection if doctors are using it for identifying the source of pain.
Lumbar Facet Joint injection
Facet joints connect the vertebrae (bones) of your spines. These joints are present, one on the left side and the other on the right side of the spine, on each vertebra. When doctors inject medications directly into these joints with the help of fluoroscopy or X-ray guidance, it helps them to pinpoint the specific area and relieve the source of the pain.
Sacroiliac Joint Injection
The end of your spine contains a tailbone or the sacrum. The sacroiliac joints in your body attach the sacrum to the pelvis. This can cause chronic pain in both lower back and legs. Getting an injection into the sacroiliac joint will help you get relief from pain. Doctors also use these injections to identify lower back pain.
Joint and Soft Tissue Injections
Your doctor will inject a pain reliever or corticosteroid directly into the problematic soft tissue or joint space between the bone and the muscle. This helps to give you relief for weeks to months, or even longer. Your pain management doctor may also use the joint and soft tissue injections to eliminate fluid build-up in the affected joint.
Medical History before Injection
Before giving injections for pain, doctors ask your medical history. If you have any allergies to antibiotics, drugs, seafood, latex, and others, it is important to tell your doctor. You also need to inform your health provider about the following things if you want better treatment and prevent any side effects.
- Anticoagulation medication
- Bleeding disorders
- Aspirin
- NSAIDs
- Ticlid
- Seizure disorders
- Diabetes
- Need for prophylactic antibiotics
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Hepatitis C
- HIV
Bottom Line
Injections for pain are necessary if the issue is getting worse with time. Doctors take your medical history, inspect your body, identify the pain source, and give you options for the treatment. In the case of chronic pain, your doctor may recommend pain injections.
Contact Matthew Grimm, MD, the best pain management doctor in NYC to treat your pain. For details, you can check our website or can contact us on 646-862-5555 to book an appointment and discuss treatment options with our pain management doctor.
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