Shoulder Pain Without Injury: 5 Common Causes
Shoulder pain is a common musculoskeletal problem, but it doesn’t always come from an injury. Take a moment to explore several conditions that increase your risk of shoulder pain, injury or not.
The Difference Between Epidural Steroid Injections and Nerve Blocks
About 65 million Americans experience spinal or lower back pain at any given time. In most cases, sufferers improve with activity changes and over-the-counter pain medication.
However, if your symptoms linger for days or even weeks, you may benefit from a minimally invasive procedure, such as epidural steroid injections or nerve blocks.
At LiveWell Pain Management, interventional pain management physician Nora Taha, MD, often prescribes epidural steroid injections and nerve blocks to reduce inflammation and ease discomfort. Here, we explain the difference between the two treatments and explore when each is most beneficial.
How epidural steroid injections and nerve blocks differ
Epidural steroid injections and nerve blocks both treat pain, but their placement and the scope of the treatment can vary.
Epidural steroid injections
Dr. Taha administers these injections into the epidural space around the spine. The injections contain a local anesthetic (numbing medication) and a steroid to reduce inflammation and speed up healing.
Epidural steroid injections can treat back pain that develops from various things, including herniated discs, bone spurs, and spinal stenosis. A single injection may provide 3-6 months of relief.
Nerve blocks
These injections can help to diagnose or treat back pain. For example, if Dr. Taha suspects that your spinal pain is coming from a pinched nerve, she can administer a nerve block near the affected area.
If your symptoms improve afterward, it confirms the source of your pain, allowing her to make personalized treatment recommendations.
Conversely, if you have a nerve-specific problem, like sciatica (a pinched sciatic nerve), a nerve block can stop pain signals from reaching your brain. Nerve blocks typically don’t provide relief for as long as epidural steroid injections, but they can ease symptoms for several months.
Which type of injection is right for me?
The type of injection that will most benefit you depends on what’s causing your back pain, the severity of your symptoms, and whether a diagnostic approach is needed to identify its location.
Before making any recommendations, we review your medical records, ask about your symptoms, and complete a physical exam. We may also order diagnostic imaging, such as X-rays, a CT scan, or an MRI to look at your spine and identify areas of nerve compression.
We typically recommend epidural steroid injections for widespread back pain, whereas nerve blocks often treat pain that comes from compressed or damaged nerves in a specific area: your tailbone, for example.
Minimally invasive spinal injections can offer lasting pain relief
To learn more about the benefits of minimally invasive spinal injections, call the nearest LiveWell Pain Management office in Elmwood Park, Englewood, or Paramus, New Jersey, or request an appointment online.
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