Back Pain Injections

Pain Managing Back Injections

There are other options available to you if you are not obtaining good pain relief from oral medications if your condition is not severe enough to require surgery. These injections, if successful will allow you to move forward with other treatments that can be used to reduce your pain in the long term. Keep in mind though, that these injections are not a cure for what ails you, just because you no longer feel back pain does not mean you are cured of your problem; you would still need to address the underlying issue as it is not possible for you to use these injections for pain relief indefinitely. Then you should consut with best spine surgeon in Chennai for immediate action.

Back Pain Epidural Types

Epidural Steroid Injection

These are the most commonly used injections for back pain and can be administered in a spine doctors office with the help of televised X-rays so that the needle is placed in the correct area of the spine. The injection itself would be a mixture of a steroid, most often cortisone, a numbing agent for immediate relief and a pain narcotic that would help to reduce your pain long enough for the steroid to kick in. When you are dealing with a steroid injection unfortunately it is not recommended that you have more than 3 of these per year, this may not be possible if these injections are not giving you long lasting pain relief.

Caudal Epidural Steroid Injection

Very similar to the commonly used epidural steroid injection, the difference being where this injection is placed; a caudal injection would be performed very low on the spine at the base of your tailbone.

Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection

Again very similar to the commonly administered epidural steroid injection, with this one the difference is where and how the needle gains access to the epidural space in the spine. With a Transforaminal injection your doctor would place the needle through the foraminal canal and into the epidural space. The foraminal canal is used by your nerves to exit the spine and spread out throughout the body.

Selective Nerve Block

This can be used as a treatment for back pain and as a way of diagnosing what nerves in your back are causing you back pain. This would be somewhat similar to a Transforaminal injection in that the medication is placed very close or on the nerves themselves.

Trigger Point Injection

This can be used if you have muscles that are failing to contract and relax and could be used on those who have myofascial pain syndrome. By injecting you with a numbing agent and a steroid it is hoped that the muscle will relax.

Prolo or Sclero Facet Injection

This can be used to induce scar tissue to form; by doing this your spine doctor hopes to tighten up lax tissue that may have become damaged as a result of an injury or degenerative condition. Success rates can vary quite a bit and this type of therapy is not widely used anymore due to this.

Backache: A Common Problem

Backache is largely caused by sitting, standing or stooping for a long time and is prevalent amongst all age groups. Human physiology has undergone a sea change in the recent years with a large proportion of people spending a majority of their work time sitting in front of computers or desks or cars and other vehicles told by most of the neurosurgeons in Chennai. The sitting posture puts pressure on our back and the constituent muscles thus resulting in backache.

Our spinal column is constituted in such a way that it provides the necessary stability to stand straight and the flexibility to move around. The spine includes a number of muscles that may get pressurized due to bad postures. Everyone of us is bound to face backache at one or the other point in our lifetime, but women in general are more prone to this problem.

A Woman's body undergoes a lot of changes during pregnancy. During the last two trimesters of pregnancy, the center of gravity of her back changes due to the position of the fetus thus altering the curve of her spine. Bending and lifting are also a regular part of a woman's daily routine and are the most common reasons of back pain. Menstrual pain can often result in backache amongst women.

Sudden jerks or movements can also result in back pain. Several conditions such as Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, Viral infection, Bladder or kidney infection, Gynecological problems in women, tumors and trauma can also cause backache.

Excess weight or the wearing of the wrong type of shoes can also result in back pain. Regular exercises that strengthen our abdominal muscles are the best solution to treat backache. Maintaining the right posture and keeping our body weight in check can go a long way in the prevention and cure of backache.

Symptoms of a Disc Bulge

There are so many people that have had to live with back pains, all of whom have testified that the feeling of living with the pain thereof is not one of pleasure. There are various common causes of back pains known to man, yet one of the most common one is disc bulging. This can cause a lot of frustration to anyone whom it affects, and it will take the patient a lot of time and patience for the process of full recovery to be done. 

Though surgery is a quick way in which the disc can be returned to its original position, the risks involved are present. The patient will therefore shy away from this method, and will generally take a pain relieving option than go for the full surgery required. The lower back is one of the most common areas in which the bulging occurs in many patients. What then is being talked about when one mentions a disc bulge?

Lets see what is disc bulge which is explained by best pediatric neurosurgeon in chennai.

The vertebra in our spine consists of small bones joined up together. One vertebra is separated from another by a disc. The disc that is in question has a layer of several tissues that are usually rapped around it. Do not assume the importance of the disc. 

It is this disc that gives someone the necessary support while standing upright. The connective tissues talked about around the disc surround from outside a jelly like substance, known to the medical world as the nucleus pulposus. It is this substance that bulges out, whenever some form of incidence occurs. Such incidences as accidence, immediate or even repetitive strenuous activity may cause this substance to break through the surrounding tissue, causing bulging to occur.

Outside the tissue area are the nerves that constitute the central nervous system of the body. When the bulging presses against them, interrupting their activity, the pain is felt. Sometimes the bulge will not press against the nerves that are near them. When this happens, the nerve will not cause any pain for a long time. Only when the nerve gets into contact with the bulge will the pain begin.

Symptoms of a disc bulge will include vary. As stated earlier, the back will not experience pain for a long time, even if the rupture has occurred. One of the reasons why it is hard to notice the pain is because there is a tendency for the nerves to radiate the pain in some other part of the body. Some will feel pain emerging from areas as low as the legs. Nevertheless, the most common areas to feel the pain are the thighs, the bum or even the foot. One will commonly feel some kind of needle like pain and will also feel some muscle weaknesses.