Injections/Blocks

Spine injection is a non-surgical treatment modality recommended for the treatment of chronic back pain. Injection of certain medicinal agents relieves the pain by blocking the nerve signals between specific areas of the body and the brain. The treatment approach involves injections of local anesthetics, steroids, or narcotics into the affected soft tissues, joints, or nerve roots.

A minimally invasive treatment called facet injection offers symptomatic relief from back pain caused by inflammation of the facet joints; however, this is not a permanent solution for the condition. The objective of the treatment is to suppress pain so that normal activities can be resumed and you can perform physical therapy exercises.

A medial branch block is an injection of a local anesthetic administered near the medial branch nerves to temporarily block the pain signal carried from the facet joints of the spine to the brain. It assists your doctor in diagnosing the cause of your back pain. If a medial branch block is successful in confirming that the pain is originating from the facet joints, radiofrequency rhizotomy is suggested to provide longer pain relief.

A spinal nerve block is the injection of an anesthetic and steroid medication around the spinal nerve root to diagnose or treat pain.