Interventional Treatment Options

There are interventional procedures for both the diagnosis and treatment of painful conditions.

Diagnostic procedures are done to find the root case our your pain. One example is a "nerve block" which involves picking which nerve may be causing the pain and then "blocking" it with numbing medicine only. If the pain goes away while the nerve is numb then it is probably causing the pain and then other treatments can be performed to treat that condition.

Therapeutic procedures are used to treat your pain. An example includes using special needles to place steroid medication at the interface of an inflamed nerve and a ruptured disc to decrease inflammation and hopefully reduce or resolve the pain.

Where do I get these treatments?

Some of these procedures can be performed in the office, using ultrasound for maximum accuracy and effectiveness. These include trigger point injections for muscle pain and other types of injections for inflamed conditions such as bursitis, tendinitis or nerve entrapment/irritation.

Other procedures are performed in our surgery center with our nursing and radiology technician teams.

These procedures often involve the use of a combination of a numbing medicine (e.g. lidocaine) and a strong anti-inflammatory medicine called a corticosteroid (often called a steroid or "cortisone").

Some procedures involve the use of special needles that deliver a radiofrequency current (instead of medications) in an attempt to stop the pain signals from the painful joint by melting the nerves transmitting pain away from a painful joint.

At the time of the procedure, we offer you what is called "conscious sedation". This involves the use of a relaxing medicine and a pain medicine that is given through an IV. You are not "put to sleep" for the procedure but the "conscious sedation" makes you very comfortable and relaxed.

Interventional Pain Management Options

One method for reducing back pain is using interventional pain management, which largely includes x-ray (fluoroscopic) guided injections. This allows our specialist to more accurately direct the medication to the source of your pain.

Interventional treatment options include: