What Is Interventional Pain Management? – 6 Common Pain Management Procedures

Chronic pain could significantly impede a person’s capacity to live an active and fulfilling life. Everyday responsibilities could become arduous for someone with chronic pain. There are as many different types of pain disorders as there are interventional pain management methods available to treat them. Interventional specialist Dr. Clement Yeh commonly uses injections to address the underlying reason for discomfort. These injections may provide permanent or temporary relief based on the nature of your ailment, its severity, and its location. Here are some popular interventional pain management treatment options for chronic pain patients.

1. Epidural Steroid Injections

Epidural steroid injections are a minimally invasive therapy utilized to alleviate leg, arm, shoulder, back, and shoulder discomfort caused by spinal nerve root irritation. Rather than being administered intravenously or orally, low corticosteroid doses, a potent and lasting anti-inflammatory drug, are directly injected into the site of your pain.

The medication is administered effectively to the root of the discomfort by administering the steroids directly. As such, this procedure prevents most of the negative effects associated with lengthy steroid use. Besides, the treatment takes approximately five minutes and can be performed with a local anesthetic.

2. Facet Joint Injections

Facet joint injections are administered with live X-ray supervision to identify and treat back discomfort stemming from the tiny spinal joints. Moreover, these injections deliver small concentrations of local anesthetics and corticosteroids to the source of persistent pain. If you are struggling with arthritis-related discomfort in the lower and upper back, joints, and neck, these injections can help.

3. Major Joint Injections (Knee, Shoulder, and Hip)

Major joint interventional pain injections effectively relieve pain resulting from various causes, including osteoarthritis. Occasionally conducted under ultrasound and X-ray guidance, these injections contain medications like hyaluronan, corticosteroids, and local anesthetics, directly administered to the underlying cause of pain.

4. Occipital Nerve Injections

This fast, painless technique takes just 30 seconds and involves injecting a local anesthetic around the greater and lesser occipital nerves in the back of your head. This procedure often alleviates migraines and other types of headaches.

5. Sacroiliac (SI) Joint Block Injection

These injections are generally used to identify and treat low back pain related to the joint that links the pelvis to the bottom of the spine. Using fluoroscopic supervision, your physician induces a steroid and numbing agent, lidocaine, into the SI joint. This treatment is repeated up to three times every year and is commonly accompanied by chiropractic adjustments and physical therapy.

6. Selective Root Nerve Block

Your pain management doctor could use selective root nerve blocks to determine the cause of nerve discomfort radiating from your neck and down to the shoulders, hands, and arms. This discomfort could result from an inflamed or compressed cervical nerve root stemming from herniated or degenerated disk, spinal stenosis, or another degenerative spinal disorder.

Initially, a contrast dye is administered to pinpoint the exact location of the damaged nerve or its vicinity. The nerve root is then injected with a second injection containing corticosteroids and lidocaine to provide lasting pain relief.

Pain, whether chronic or severe, could flip anybody’s world on its head. Once-enjoyable activities could become difficult due to extreme discomfort. Even spending quality time with relatives and friends can become challenging. If drugs and other conservative therapeutic approaches have failed, do not lose hope! Discuss with your specialist concerning the different interventional pain management options and which is appropriate for you.