Common Types of Interventional Pain Management Treatments

Controlling chronic pain is not easy. Over-the-counter pain medications are a short-term solution; moreover, they don’t help with every kind of pain.

Painkillers alleviate the pain without addressing the underlying cause. On the other hand, invasive surgeries are expensive, involve a lot of downtime, and are a great source of discomfort.

This is why a lot of doctors are moving toward holistic ways of treating pain. To seek long-term solutions, you need a whole range of therapeutic treatments that work in conjunction to bring about the desired pain relief.

In this post, we will be discussing various interventional pain management techniques that look beyond traditional medicine:

Electrical stimulation

Electrical stimulation is a branch of neuromodulation that alleviates pain by sending electrical signals to the area that is inflamed. The practitioner places a pain pump or a stimulator directly on the skin that sends pulses to the spine, nerves, or brain.

This elicits muscle contractions on the site of the stimulation. Electrodes are used to control the voltage and the intensity of the pulses. The pulses initiate from the electrical unit to the electrode and then to the muscles. As a result of these pulse-driven contractions, a reduction in spasticity, pain, and inflammation is usually noticed.

Epidural steroid injections

Unlike other treatment options, steroid injections target the nerve roots and not the surface of the skin. The injections are directly administered into the epidural space of the spine. The therapist starts off the process by applying a local anesthetic and injecting steroids into the membrane of the area outside where the nerves are located. This is the membrane that covers the spine.

As per the North American Spine Society, your doctor will recommend these injections if the spinal passage has narrowed. This usually happens when the ligaments in the spine thicken. The injections comprise steroids that have an anti-inflammation effect on the vertebrae, and lead to its re-alignment. The steroids break the cycle of inflammation and result in improved functionality.

Although patients start noticing a great deal of pain relief right after the first injection, multiple sessions are usually needed. The practitioner may also inject small quantities of contrast dye to make sure the medicine is traveling to the designated area.

If you’re based in New Jersey or New York and are looking for a reliable Hackensack NJ Pain Recovery Center look no further than PAIN+Recovery. We offer a wide range of therapeutic treatments for pain and pain management NJ. Get in touch now.