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Spinal Injections
Conservative Approach to Advanced spine care
Spinal injections
When spinal nerves become irritated or inflamed due to a degenerative condition in the spine that is causing a pinched nerve, the result may be severe acute or chronic back pain, as well as pain, numbness, and muscle weakness that extends elsewhere into the body, such as the hips, buttocks, or legs.
Before your doctor considers recommending spine surgery or chronic pain therapies to relieve these symptoms, he or she will most likely recommend one or more non-surgical treatment measures. An epidural spinal injection is one of these options which is a form of a Spinal injections
Typically, a steroid medication is injected to deliver a powerful anti-inflammatory solution directly to the area that is the source of pain. Depending on the type of injection, some forms of low back pain relief may be long lasting and some may be only temporary.
Benefits of of Spinal injections
Pain Relief Where It’s Needed.Epidural steroid injections deliver medication directly to the source of pain generation. In contrast, oral steroids and painkillers have a dispersed, less-focused impact and may have unacceptable side effects.
Additionally, since the vast majority of pain stems from chemical inflammation, an epidural steroid injection can help control local inflammation while also “flushing out” inflammatory proteins and chemicals from the local area that may contribute to and exacerbate pain
Relief from the Pain.Spinal physicians agree that while the pain relief from these injections is temporary, lasting from a week up to a year, the relief from injections also enables you to progress in your exercise and stretching rehab programs.
With the relief from Spinal injections , you can achieve a wider range of motion when stretching and exercising. And you’ll have added motivation to exercise when you’re pain-free.
Other benefits of spinal injections
Another benefit to these injections is that they deliver medicine right to the source of your pain — as opposed to oral painkillers and steroids that are dispersed throughout the body and have a less focused impact. Oral medicines often come with harmful side effects too.
Added Benefits. Spinal injections flush out inflammatory chemicals and proteins that are often the cause of back pain. Steroids delivered through spinal injection provide beneficial results by reducing the natural responses of the immune system that reacts to tissue and nerve damage, and inflammation.
Success Rates with Epidural Steroid Injection. More than 50 percent of patients report significant pain relief. These injections also potentially delay surgery or negate the need for it altogether. Finally, steroid injections lead to a reduced need for painkillers
Mild soreness or pain at the site after an injection for back pain is common. Headache, nausea, and vomiting can also happen.
Side effects of spinal injection
Mild soreness or pain at the site after an injection for back pain is common. Headache, nausea, and vomiting can also happen.
It’s rare, but injections can cause bleeding or infection.
Spinal Infection. It may cause a post-dural puncture headache (also called a spinal headache) that usually improves within a few days. Although infrequent, a blood patch may be necessary to alleviate the headache.
Nerve damage. While extremely rare, nerve damage can occur from direct trauma from the needle, or from infection or bleeding.
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Types of Spinal Injections
Epidural Spinal injections – injections are typically used to treat pain emanating from an inflamed nerve root. In addition to the low back (the lumbar region), epidural steroid injections are used to ease pain experienced in the neck (cervical) region and in the mid spine (thoracic) region.
The approach your doctor chooses is based on each individual patient’s clinical presentation, the personal preference and experience of the provider performing the injection, the desired outcome, and most importantly, the risks versus benefits of performing one type of epidural over another.
Clinically, the purpose of all epidural Spinal injections is to place a mixture of steroid and local anesthetic at the source of the problem to decrease inflammation causing pain, and to promote healing and clinical improvement.
Facet joint Spinal injection. These types of injections are placed into and around the facet joints, which are the small joints located between each vertebra on the back of the spine.
Facet joint injections are often used when pain is caused by degenerative/arthritic conditions or injury. They are used to treat neck, middle back, or low back pain.
If facet joints are suspected as a potential source of pain, an injection into the joint is commonly used to confirm the diagnosis and relieve pain.
The sacroiliac (SI) joint is a strong weight bearing joint in the pelvis that connects the sacrum and pelvis. There are two joints, one on each side of the sacrum, reinforced by ligaments.
Both joints normally have movement and provide shock absorption for the spine. Just like other joints in the body, this joint can become inflamed, unstable and dysfunctional.
Localized steroid injections into the SI joint can provide targeted therapy to reduce pain and inflammation and allow physical therapy to make further progress.