If you suffer from chronic back pain or neck pain, an epidural steroid injection may be a great option for reducing pain and improving your overall quality of life. Many patients see great effects from this procedure, with a fairly short recovery time.

Spinal pain is one of the most common reasons why people seek treatment from their physicians. With the aging population, it is expected that the number of people suffering from spinal pain will increase dramatically throughout the coming years. When a patient’s spinal pain does not improve with conservative treatment options, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, physical therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, spinal manipulation, and nerve blocks, among others, a patient’s physician may recommend spinal surgery.

Intra-articular peripheral joint injections provide physicians with an effective modality to help treat conditions, such as chronic joint pain, degenerative musculoskeletal diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis. Injections for chronic joint pain have come a long way since they were first described in the 1930s.

Epidural injections for pain relief emerged in 1901. The first epidural injection performed used cocaine to relieve pain that was suspected to emerge from the lumbar nerve roots. Between the 1920s and 1940s, epidural injections contained mostly saline and a local anesthetic agent. The use of corticosteroids in epidural steroid injections began in 1952. The corticosteroid used during this procedure is a synthetic, man-made drug whose function is similar to that of cortisol.

Peripheral nerve stimulation is an alternative or next-line treatment for patients with severe or chronic headache pain. This treatment is recommended for cases in which conventional medications, such as oral analgesics, have not produced the expected effect. Peripheral nerve stimulation is a drug-free form of therapy in which devices that emit mild electrical impulses that correct high or abnormal level of pain signals are placed in the body near peripheral nerves that carry these signals. This type of technique is known as neuromodulation, which employs minimally-invasive surgery to provide medium- to long-term relief from pain.

Posterior facet blocks and facet rhizotomies are treatments used to bring relief to patients suffering from chronic back pain. The facet joints are the flexible spaces between the vertebrae that allow the spine to bend and flex. When problems arise in and around these joints, back pain may occur. When this pain becomes chronic and does not respond well to over-the-counter treatments such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), a physician may suggest a posterior facet block or rhizotomy.

If you suffer from chronic pain that hasn’t responded to other treatments, a spinal cord stimulator could help. Spinal cord stimulators are devices that deliver low-level electrical stimulation to block pain signals. They’re considered the “pacemakers for pain.” And, although the stimulator may not provide pain relief in all cases, previous literature has demonstrated that approximately one-half of all patients who use a trial spinal cord stimulator report significant pain relief. Over 70% of patients who used an implanted spinal cord stimulator for neuropathic pain reported pain relief benefits.

The sympathetic block procedure entails blocking the transmission of pain signals from sympathetic nerve roots as a means of treating persistent pain. This type of block is typically performed if conventional treatment methods such as over-the-counter pain medication or steroid injections have not been effective at relieving persistent pain. It may also be suggested if serious side effects developed due to conventional methods.