What are pain injections?

Pain injections are a conservative treatment option for back pain. They can be used to treat back pain after a course of medications, or before physical therapy is completed, and possibly before surgery is considered. Injections can be useful in providing palliative pain relief and as a diagnostic tool to help in identifying the source of the pain. The goal is to reduce or alleviate the pain.

Will this work if oral pain medications do not?

Injections can be more effective than an oral medication because they deliver medication directly to the anatomic location that is generating the pain. A long acting anesthetic and steroid medication is injected to deliver a powerful anti-inflamatory solution directly to the area that is believed to be the source of pain. Depending on the type of injection, some forms of pain relief may be long lasting while some may only be temporary.

Who will perform this procedure?

A Radiologist will explain and answer questions before the procedure and will also be performing this procedure. Expect to be at our facility 45 minutes to 1 hour.

When can I resume normal activities?

Normal activity can resume as soon as tolerated.

• Epidural
• Selective nerve root block (SNRB)
• Facet joint blocks
• Sacro-ilac joint injection