Chronic pain is a severe condition that can affect your quality of life. With chronic pain, your body keeps sending pain signals to your brain.
Chronic pain lasts over 12 weeks without any indication of getting better. It can compromise your mobility, flexibility, and strength, affecting your day-to-day activities and leading to mental health issues.
Chronic pain can result from an injury or an underlying condition like degenerative disc disease or arthritis. The first step in treating chronic pain is identifying its cause and then treating it.
There are many treatments for chronic pain, but sometimes the pill burden or recovery from open surgery can be overwhelming. In addition to conventional surgery, there are minimally invasive procedures for chronic pain.
Minimally invasive procedures for chronic pain management are less severe than open surgery. There is no incision during the procedure because most procedures are performed through an injection, hence less pain and less recovery time. The goal of these procedures is:
- To reduce the pain symptoms.
- To help the patient continue with their daily activities and thus remain active.
- To slow loss of function and improve the quality of life.
Available Minimally Invasive procedures
Minimally invasive procedures provide more extended relief than oral medications. These procedures include:
Epidural Steroid injections
This procedure is a common pain relief treatment involving injecting a medicine containing a combination of an anesthetic agent and a corticosteroid. The drug is injected directly into the space surrounding your nerves. You will have better results if you pair it with physical therapy.
Nerve block injections
This procedure is similar to the Epidural Steroid injections, but it targets specific nerves and injects an anesthetic agent and corticosteroids directly around the affected nerve. It can help manage chronic pain and can be repeated as necessary.
Joint injections
These injections are non-invasive procedures used in the management of chronic pain. A mixture of corticosteroid and anesthesia is injected directly into the painful joint to reduce inflammation and pain.
Spinal Cord Stimulation
This procedure involves delivering low-level electric signals to the spinal cord. A device provides the electrical signals to the nerves and disrupts the pain signals. The doctor can implant a stimulator through a needle and places it near the spinal cord on your back.
Prolotherapy
This procedure helps to treat chronic pain in joints and muscles. It involves injecting a saline or sugar substance into the area with pain. Prolotherapy helps your body heal naturally since the substance acts as an irritant that causes immune cells to move to that area to promote healing.
Radiofrequency Ablation
It is also known as a rhizotomy. This procedure involves using an electric current that heats the small sensory nerve supplying a facet joint. This interrupts the painful signal from an arthritic joint and can last 6-12 months.
Final Thought
Chronic pain can affect your general wellbeing, but it doesn’t have to remain that way. Please fill out the form below and visit our website to learn more about alternative ways to manage chronic pain.