Chronic pain can change your life, interfere with your ability to work, sleep and enjoy. When chronic pain disrupts your life and does not go away with medication, pain management doctors can help. Thanks to improvements in medicine and technology, there are now many safe and effective pain treatments that can help you manage your chronic pain.
Minimally invasive pain treatments or interventional pain treatments in San Antonio can help chronic pain sufferers get lasting relief without potentially risky surgery and habit forming medications.
EPIDURAL INJECTIONS
An epidural steroid injection is an injection of steroid medication to reduce pain and inflammation in the spine. It is an effective treatment for many painful conditions including intervertebral disc injury, sciatica, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, cancer pain, and post-surgical pain.
NERVE BLOCKS
Selective nerve blocks or nerve root blocks target the cervical (upper spine), thoracic (middle spine) or lumbar (lower spine) regions of the spine help to determine and block pain from nerve roots that are causing pain.
FACET INJECTIONS
Facet injections are often used to diagnose and treat pain in the facet joints of the vertebrae. Facet joints become vulnerable when the intervertebral disc(s) is injured. As the disc degenerates, the disc space loses height. The space between the vertebral bodies narrows.
As a result, the facet joints get less support and becomes subject to more stress. Facet joint pain is often felt in the back or spinal area.
RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION
Radiofrequency ablation or radio frequency neurolysis is a minimally invasive interventional treatment option to reduce pain often caused by osteoarthritis or facet joint pain. The treatment uses radio waves to desensitize targeted nerves, thereby offering pain relief.
SPINAL CORD STIMULATION
Spinal cord stimulator implants deliver low voltage electrical stimulation to the spinal cord to block the feeling of pain. This is an advanced treatment that can be used for many conditions including radiculopathy or sciatica, low back pain, reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and post-herpetic neuralgia.
INTERVERTEBRAL DISC THERAPIES
The intervertebral disc is often the cause of pain. Intervertebral disc therapies, such as discography, IDET and disc decompression, are treatment options for patients with a herniated disc.
LUMBAR SYMPATHETIC AND STELLATE GANGLION BLOCKS
The lumbar sympathetic block blocks pain sensation from the sympathetic nerves in the lower back for pain typically in the leg or foot. The stellate ganglion block targets the sympathetic nerves in the neck for pain treatment in the arm, shoulder or face.
The sympathetic nerves, which are a chain of nerves running on the front of the spinal column, can transmit pain following an injury. Pain specialists use such blocks to diagnose and alleviate many pain conditions, such as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) and Herpes Zoster (shingles).