The spine is one of the most delicate and meaningful parts of the body. Unfortunately, many people engage in strenuous activity that may mechanically damage the spine. Fortunately, doctors have developed a treatment involving spinal injections and nerve blocks for any patient with a work injury in Woodbury.
How are spinal injections done?
Your doctor will administer these injections in specific parts of the spine to relieve pain. Doctors consider spinal injections a conservative treatment option that should be part of any multidisciplinary approach to relieve spinal injury symptoms.
Spinal injections may consist of a specific medication depending on your condition. Your doctor may inject your spine with a steroid to help relieve inflammatory symptoms. The use of local anesthesia is necessary if your doctor is trying to achieve a loss of sensation. Sometimes your doctor will add X-ray dye into your spinal injections, which provides extra guidance.
Who is a candidate for spinal injections?
There is a wide variety of spinal disorders that necessitate spinal injections for diagnostic or treatment purposes. However, a consultation appointment is vital so that your physician can determine if proceeding with the injection is the ideal approach for you. Most care providers will recommend other conservative treatments for neck and back pain because most symptoms go away after about a month. However, if your symptoms persist, the use of spinal injections may be what you need to improve your quality of life. The following are conditions where using spinal injections may be appropriate for providing relief:
- Spinal stenosis
- Disc herniation
- Sciatica
- Facet and sacroiliac joint pain
Are spinal injections and nerve blocks different?
Any injection involving the spine is a spinal injection. This broad tern has many subtypes, including nerve blocks which are spinal injections targeting a specific nerve. If your doctor injects spinal medicine into a nerve in the spine, there will be blocked pain signal transmission. As a result, a patient will not complain of discomfort.
What are the different types of spinal injections?
There is no standard injection for all spine disorders. Your doctor will begin by assessing your spine to understand the severity and location of your pain. The spinal injection your doctor will administer will depend on your condition. The most common types of spinal injections include:
- Epidural injection: Doctors administer this spinal injection on the dura, the outermost part enclosing the spine.
- Selective nerve root block (SNRB) injection: Your doctor will inject local numbing medicine on a nerve root in your spine.
- Medial branch block (MBB) injection: These spinal injections consist of local anesthesia, which your doctor will direct into medial nerve branches.
- Facet joint injection: These are spinal injections that physicians administer directly into the facet joint.
- Sacroiliac joint injections are spinal injections on sacroiliac joints.
What are the benefits of spinal injections?
This treatment is an option to consider if you have pain or disability in the spine. However, there are many risks to the treatment like infection, nerve damage, bleeding, and dura puncture. It would be best to discuss the potential risks of spinal injections with your doctor before proceeding with the treatment. Working with a board-certified physician will guarantee the success of your spinal injections in treating your pain. Contact Woodbury Spine if you have any questions about spinal injections and determine if it is a worth it treatment to eliminate your discomfort and help you recover from your work injury.
