Back Pain SmartSite TM
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Injections and nerve blocks for low back painDescriptionInjections to treat back pain deliver medicine right to the origin of the pain. Your doctor will inject a mixture of steroid and numbing medicines into this area. These medicines decrease swelling and pressure around a nerve or inside a joint. This lessens your pain. You may have this kind of injection when other treatments have not helped. If your pain lessens or goes away after the injection, your doctor may be able to tell what is causing your pain. Another type of injection for back pain is called an epidural steroid injection. Facet joint injectionFacet joints are where 2 vertebrae that are next to each other form a joint. They allow your spine to move, twist, and bend. Problems in these small joints cannot be diagnosed on x-rays or MRI scans. An experienced doctor may be able to diagnose a problem in a facet joint based on your symptoms and a physical exam. A facet joint injection should be done only by a doctor who has experience doing this type of injection. It is not a cure by itself. But it can be part of a long-term plan to manage chronic back pain. When you have the injection:
It is hard to know before you have it if the injection will help. Sometimes more than one injection is done. Your doctor will ask you right after the injection how it is working. This can allow them to isolate the problem area. Selective nerve root block (SNRB) to diagnose and manage back painNerve roots are bundles of fibers that come out of each section of your spine. Some of them deliver signals to your brain that make you feel pain. A selective nerve root block (SNRB) injection is mostly used to find the source of pain in a nerve root. The injection also may bring relief of low back pain or leg pain. A nerve root that becomes compressed and sore can cause back or leg pain. If an imaging study such as an MRI shows more than one nerve is involved, an SNRB injection can help locate the source of pain. An SNRB should be done only by a doctor who has experience doing this type of injection. It is not a cure by itself. But it can be part of a long-term plan to manage chronic back pain. SNRB is also called transforaminal epidural injection. The injection is done using a similar technique to facet joint injections, described above. Sacroiliac joint injectionThe sacroiliac joint is located between the lowest part of your spine, called the sacrum, and a bone in your pelvis called the Ilium. There are 2 sacroiliac joints in your spine, one on the right and another on the left. Swelling and inflammation in this joint can cause low back pain and buttock pain. Psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis, and ankylosing spondylitis are common causes of pain in the sacroiliac joint. When you have the injection:
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Review Date: 4/3/2018 Reviewed By: C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, San Francisco, CA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team. View References:  The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, or correctness of any translations made by a third-party service of the information provided herein into any other language. © 1997- A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. | ||||||||||||||||||
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