When you have chronic pain, it can quickly become difficult to focus on work, household tasks, and even hobbies or activities you enjoy. Pain can affect your relationships and your overall health. It can become the center of your world.
At ReGen Pain Management, we aim to help you live with less pain so you can enjoy life fully. Dr. Jonathan Koning offers a variety of treatments, including epidural steroid injections and nerve blocks. Here, we explain how the two treatments treat common pain syndromes, such as back pain or neck pain.
Both of these pain treatments involve precisely placed injections along your spine. They both offer relief from nerve pain and require an office visit.
That’s where the commonalities end, though. The two treatments work quite differently.
An epidural steroid injection is administered into the epidural space of your spine. This is the space between the dura mater, a layer of connective tissue, and your vertebrae. It’s filled with fat, veins, arteries, nerve roots, and lymphatic fluid.
When you get an epidural steroid injection, Dr. Koning carefully places the needle so that anti-inflammatory medications go directly into the epidural space, near the nerve roots causing your pain. Reducing the inflammation eases your pain and may also help Dr. Koning identify exactly which nerves are causing the pain.
Epidural steroid injections are often used to treat:
Generally, it’s advisable to have epidural steroid injections no more than three or four times per year. But each injection should provide several months of relief.
Nerve blocks can be delivered anywhere along your spine and aren’t restricted to the epidural space. The medication administered in a nerve block is different, too. It numbs the nerve root rather than simply reducing inflammation.
Some of the conditions nerve blocks help include:
Nerve blocks can be part of a longer-term pain management plan and are usually scheduled regularly. They’re not limited in the same way that epidural steroid injections are.
Everyone who has chronic pain experiences it uniquely, and it’s essential to find a provider who has the training and skill to recommend the treatment plan that will work for you as an individual. At ReGen Pain Management, you can expect personalized care designed to manage your pain. Schedule your appointment today.
