Injections for Back Pain Can Be Used for Diagnosis and Relief

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Injections for Back Pain Can Be Used for Diagnosis and Relief

If your doctor has ordered injections for your back pain, they’ll serve one of two purposes. The first is diagnosis. To determine exactly what is causing your pain, a doctor may inject a short term anesthetic into an area of your back that hurts to help determine where exactly the pain is being generated. For instance, if your doctor injects one of your facet joints with a pain blocker and your symptoms disappear, then he or she knows that the pain stems from that part of the spine, not something else like a bulging disc. Another type of injection used to diagnose back pain causes is contrast dyes. These are used during MRIs to create a clearer picture for your doctor, helping him or her see the problem in more detail and in turn diagnose the problem more easily.

The second purpose for back injections is pain relief. In some scenarios, doctors will inject a blend of steroids and a local anesthetic into the spinal canal at the site of the pain. The local anesthetic serves to numb the pain in the short term, while the steroids provide longer lasting inflammation control. These shots are tremendously effective in controlling pain, and for some they last several months. For others, their impact is minimal. Additionally, even those who have successful steroid treatments may need further treatment when the steroids wear off. For these patients, Laser Spine Institute (LSI) may be a good alternative.

We provide a variety of endoscopic treatments for many causes of back pain, and we can often eliminate the root cause of the condition, rather than just treating the symptoms the way injections for back pain do. If you’d like more information on the procedures we perform, contact us today. We’ll review your MRI or CT scan free of charge.

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