Your Health: Therapeutic injections for chronic pain
Acute and chronic pain can slow you down and keep you from enjoying life. Chronic pain is pain that keeps coming back or lasts longer than 3-6 months. It may be related to an injury or disease and sometimes the cause of the pain is not known. Often people with chronic pain feel anxious or even depressed which can lead to social isolation. For these reasons it is important to see someone if you are experiencing chronic pain.
There are options available for individuals who live with chronic pain. In Valley City one of these options is the Pain Management Clinic at CHI Mercy Health. Individuals are seen for a wide variety of pain related problems including back and neck pain, headaches, sciatica, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, and shoulder, elbow, hip and knee pain. Patients are evaluated, diagnosed, treated and referred to other specialties to help manage chronic pain. Treatment often depends on the cause and severity of pain. Some of these treatment options may include medications, physical therapy, mindfulness, physical activity, nutrition, or therapeutic injections. People tend to benefit from two or more types of therapies in order to manage their chronic pain.
A few examples of therapeutic injections include trigger point injections, epidural steroid injections, joint injections and radiofrequency ablation. Trigger point injections are used to treat tight spots in the muscles where the tightness irritates the nerves around them. A local anesthetic is injected into the muscle to help the muscle relax and improve circulation to the area. Epidural steroid injections involve placing an anti-inflammatory medicine into the epidural space which decreases the inflammation at the nerve root. For joint related pain, an anti-inflammatory medication can be injected into the joint to decrease inflammation and pain. Radiofrequency ablation involves applying heat to a nerve that carries the pain signal. This results in a scarring of the nerve so that the pain impulse cannot travel and often the pain relief lasts 6-12 months.
Stephanie Kruta is the surgery and pain clinic manager at CHI Mercy Health in Valley City.
Your Health is coordinated by City County Health District.