Why are injections used in pain management?

Injections are useful for delivering pain relief, as well as making a diagnosis in some cases. For example, using nerve blocks helps to pinpoint the precise origin of your pain when it isn’t clear from diagnostic imaging tests alone. However, the same type of injection can also relieve chronic pain.

As well as injecting anesthetics to numb pain and corticosteroids to reduce inflammation, injections also play a part in the use of more advanced forms of long term pain management, such as radiofrequency ablation and spinal cord stimulation (SCS), which uses electrical signals to reduce pain.

 

What types of nerve block injections are used to treat pain?

Nerve blocks usually contain a combined anesthetic and corticosteroid, and are one of the most frequently used forms of injection, as they provide effective temporary relief from pain. Other common injections include:

 

Facet joint injections

Facet joints are the small joints lining each vertebra. Facet joint injections help to reduce pain immediately, and the effects are usually extremely long-lasting.

 

Epidurals

Epidurals are one of the most well-known types of injections for back and lower body pain and are particularly useful for pain caused by damaged nerves or inflammation.

 

Trigger point injections

Trigger point injections target areas of knotted muscle that remain so tight that you can feel them under the skin. Trigger points irritate the nerves, causing referred pain that injections can help reduce.

 

Steroid injections

Caudal steroid injections target the lowest part of the epidural space in your back, and help to relieve pain caused by sciatica, herniated discs, or bone spurs.

 

Sympathetic nerve block

A sympathetic nerve block affects the sympathetic nerves, which control the involuntary functions in your body that you don’t have to think about.

 

Stellate ganglion block

A stellate ganglion block is a type of sympathetic nerve block. The stellate ganglion is a bundle of nerves that are often involved in head, neck, arm, or chest pain.

 

Celiac plexus injections

The celiac plexus is a bundle of nerves surrounding the main artery in your abdomen, so celiac plexus injections can help if you have persistent abdominal pain.