The best-rated pain relief specialists, Dr. Reyfman and Dr. Kosharskyy, first choose the most conservative treatments to relieve your back pain. So before surgery is even an option, your pain management doctor may recommend a pain-relieving spine injection. The first step is to identify and isolate the cause of your pain. Once a firm diagnosis is determined, a spine injection of pain-relieving medication and anti-inflammatory drugs delivers relief directly where it’s needed in your spine. Your doctor uses fluoroscopy to navigate to the exact spot for your injection. To learn if you’re a good candidate for a spine injection, call Pain Management NYC.
What’s a Spinal Injection?
A spinal injection is a non-surgical treatment for back pain offered by your pain management doctors and interventional pain specialists. Most injections contain anesthetic and anti-inflammatory medication. Pain doctors in NYC rely on different types of spinal injections, depending on your back pain diagnosis and the location of your pain.
For precise upper back pain, mid-back pain or lower back pain treatment, your pain management doctor at the center for Pain Management in NYC uses live x-rays, known as fluoroscopy, to guide the needle exactly where it needs to be. Your pain doctor injects the medicine to the inflamed nerve or into the area around the nerves causing your pain.
How Do Spinal Injections Work?
Spinal injections reduce back pain and restore functionality to your back. Multiple spinal conditions can cause debilitating back pain, which limits what you can do. The best pain management in Midtown Manhattan use spinal injections after a careful examination of your back pain problem.
The spine injections work by:
- Reducing inflammation by easing pinched nerves caused by herniated discs
- Suppressing spontaneous nerve signals from an irritated nerve
- Blocking signals between the nerve cells and your brain
- Reducing pain through the pain-relieving medication in the injection
Your pain management specialist in NYC offers an individualized treatment for your back pain after a confirmed diagnosis. The spinal injection procedure selected depends on the location of the injured nerves, the underlying cause, the extent of damage and other factors.
What Types of Cervical Spinal Injections Are Available?
The top of your spine, called the cervical spine, protects your spinal cord, supports your head and allows neck and head movements. Any injuries or conditions that affect your cervical spine can cause shooting pain and affect the range of motion of your neck and shoulders. Neck pain also inhibits your sleep.
Cervical spine pain can occur because of neck strain, a neck injury, a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, neck arthritis, a pinched nerve, muscle spasms or degenerative disc disease in the neck.
The best-rated pain clinic in Manhattan chooses from cervical spinal injections that include:
- Cervical epidural steroid injection. This injection of medication targets the irritated nerve root. It treats neck pain caused by a herniated disc, a bulging disc, cervical radiculopathy, spinal stenosis or degenerative disc disease.
- Cervical facet injection. This is a type of spinal injection delivers medication into and around specific cervical facet joints that are causing pain. The injection treats neck pain, cervical facet arthritis, cervicogenic headaches and other headaches.
- Cervical radiofrequency ablation. Your pain specialist in New York City uses x-ray guidance to locate the injured nerve causing your pain. The doctor then delivers a mild electrical current to damage the problematic nerve tissues, which kills the pain caused by cervical facet arthritis.
If you suffer from movement-inhibiting neck pain, talk to a top back pain specialist in Midtown Manhattan for a professional examination and diagnosis. The best pain management doctor in NYC chooses the best cervical spine injection for you.
Are Lower Back Spinal Injections Different?
Low back pain is the second-leading cause of disability in the United States. This area of your spine incudes your sacroiliac (SI) joint at the base of your spine. Lumbar spine injections, which are different from cervical injections due to the area and conditions treated, help with low back pain management.
The lower back injections include:
- Lumbar epidural steroid injection. For treatment of a herniated disc, a bulging disc, lumbar radiculopathy, spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease, this injection delivers pain medication and an inflammatory.
- Lumbar facet injection. Your NYC pain management doctor uses this injection for the treatment of lumbar facet arthritis and other back pain.
- Lumbar radiofrequency ablation. Your pain doctor uses this technique to treat lumbar facet arthritis and certain other back pain.
- SI joint injection. This injection helps diagnose and treat sciatica, sacroiliitis, certain low back pain and buttock pain. It’s also useful for treating other symptoms related to sacroiliac joint dysfunction.
For the best pain management in Manhattan, visit Pain Management NYC at their Midtown Manhattan office. No matter what’s causing your lower back pain, they find it and treat it, so you can return to your life pain-free.
What’s the Procedure for Spinal Injections?
Spinal injections can offer pain relief for a wide range of spinal conditions.
You may be a good candidate for an injection if:
- You have a diagnosis of degenerative spine disease or a condition such as osteoarthritis, spondylolisthesis, sciatica, disc herniation or spinal stenosis.
- You have a failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS), such as post-laminectomy syndrome, from a previous surgery.
- You suffer chronic pain caused by a neck or back injury.
Your spinal injection is an outpatient procedure. It takes between 15 and 45 minutes to complete once you have a diagnosis.
You can expect a series of steps during the procedure, including:
- Your initial consultation includes a physical examination and a review of your medical history. The doctor rules out any medical conditions or allergies that can cause complications with your injection.
- Your pain specialist has you lay face down on an x-ray table, enabling the use of the fluoroscopy to guide the needle.
- Your doctor identifies the injection area, cleans it and numbs the site.
- A top pain management doctor in NYC injects a contrast dye to confirm the flow of the medication in the injection.
- With fluoroscopy guidance, the doctor injects the pain medication.
- After a short recovery period, you’re free to leave.
The pain-relieving medication takes about five days to work. For the best pain management in New York City, contact the specialists at Pain Management NYC. The pain management doctors have the expertise and equipment to treat a broad range of pain conditions to help you enjoy a pain-free life.
Boleslav Kosharskyy, MD, is a top-rated, best-in-class interventional pain management doctor. He is board-certified in Anesthesiology, Interventional Pain Medicine, and Palliative Care.
Dr. Kosharskyy is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Rehabilitation Medicine at Albert Einstein Medical College. He’s also the Associate Medical Director of Pain Medicine and Director of Anesthesia for the Joint Replacement Center at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein Medical College.
He is an active member of the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA), the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA), and the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists (NYSSA)