The very thought of an impending spine pain treatment can be scary. Especially if your specialist has recommended spine surgery, you’ll have a hundred questions about the procedure. The best place to get the correct answers is a spine and pain center Maryland, which has experienced spine specialists on call to answer all your questions.
With over 2 million of Maryland’s 5.8 million seniors being older than 50, several people are plagued with back and neck-related disorders causing severe pain. Most of these people require spinal pain treatment to get rid of chronic pain.
The days before the Internet were probably the happiest as one has fewer questions as awareness was limited. However, today, you can research any topic and get answers instantly, which can only confuse you further. However, here are a few likely doubts you’d want to ask your doctor:
Is There Any Other Option?
The first question that pops up in the mind of most patients advised to go for spinal pain treatment: “is there any other option?” Anyone would want to check out all alternatives before going for surgery. However, no doctor would suggest surgery unless it is the last resort.
Anything curable with medication and physical therapy is what all doctors would first explore. So, if your doctor says you need to go for specialized pain management procedures, place your trust in them, even when you have to go under the scalpel.
What Type of Spinal Pain Treatment Do You Recommend?
Based on the symptoms, your specialist may recommend epidural injections if you have been diagnosed with disc herniation, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, or verbal compression fractures. With over 19% of the population comprising seniors above 65, these conditions are common in Maryland.
However, the bright side of it is a remote likelihood of side effects like post-treatment infections. Dural puncture often leads to a nagging spinal headache that lasts a few days. Bleeding is rare and occurs in patients with preexisting bleeding disorders. Otherwise, other than the pain caused by the injection, there’s nothing much to worry about.
Are Steroid Injections Painful?
Your specialist at the spine and pain center in Maryland may recommend a facet joint injection, a steroid injection to treat medial branch blocks. The procedure is carried out after injecting a local anesthetic to numb the skin in the area. The steroid injection (anti-inflammatory medication) is then injected into the facet joint.
This procedure is standard and effective and has been in use for several years. While patients report pain in the back for a few hours after the procedure, they recover by the next day and return to their routine.
A facet joint injection is not risky as it has hardly any side effects. People with allergies may experience reactions, and rare nerve damage cases have been reported, besides bleeding, which is expected.
Is Rhizotomy a Painful Procedure?
Rhizotomy, a surgical procedure, is recommended to destroy nerves conveying pain signals from the facet joints to the brain. The nerve has to be cauterized using a radiofrequency probe.
Although it is slightly painful, the procedure helps treat chronic back pain or muscle spasms. Most patients experience muscle spasms, which subside after a week or so. Besides bleeding and pain, this procedure does not have any severe side effects.
Summing it Up
Any surgical procedure is scary, more so when it is to do with the spine. The spine being a delicate area, most people fear interventional treatment. However, most procedures are safe and help relieve chronic pain.
