Most people have experienced back pain at some point. After all, even sleeping funny can cause discomfort that completely derails your day.
But what do you do when back pain persists for weeks, months, or years at a time? Those situations require expert care from an interventional orthopedic specialist like Dr. Vladimir Fiks.
Dr. Fiks uses cutting-edge methods to treat spine pain at Advanced Pain Management Center in Portland, Oregon. Do you have back pain? Here are five common spinal injections used to manage back pain.
One leading treatment for back pain involves epidural steroid injections with anti-inflammatory or pain-relieving medications.
Dr. Fiks uses these injections to soothe irritated nerve roots in the epidural space within the spinal cord.
If you have radiating pain in your limbs, an epidural steroid injection could be right for you. However, Dr. Fiks can also use this treatment to isolate the specific nerve triggering your symptoms.
Dr. Fiks typically uses this type of injection to normalize nerve activity in the sympathetic nervous system.
Nerves in this complex network spread out from the spine throughout the body, and they control all of the functions you never think of — such as blood flow, sweating, heart rate, and digestion.
These nerve blocks provide remarkable results for conditions like complex regional pain syndrome, Raynaud’s syndrome, or spasming blood vessel pain.
If you have pain associated with a degenerative condition, like arthritis, or an injury, facet joint injections could provide solutions.
These spinal injections target the hinge-like facet joints that connect the vertebrae in the spine.
Dr. Fiks can also use this treatment to diagnose a condition.
Some injections don’t include medication at all. Instead, they use heat to damage nerve tissue — that’s how radiofrequency ablation (RFA) works.
Dr. Fiks uses this treatment to disable a problematic nerve, which provides longer-lasting relief than injections relying on medication.
This approach is especially useful for chronic pain conditions that haven’t responded to other treatments, especially in the neck, lower back, or arthritic joints.
Finally, Dr. Fiks also offers therapeutic injections designed to heal the body and rid it of damage and disease. And they work by harnessing growth factors from the human body.
There are a variety of regenerative therapies. For instance, platelet-rich plasma therapy — or PRP — uses healing agents found in blood. Another method uses elements found in bone marrow.
When used for therapeutic purposes, Dr. Fiks harvests these powerful growth factors and concentrates them into a potent injection. Then, he delivers them directly into an area with damage or disease to activate, accelerate, and support the healing process.
These are just a few of the potential ways Dr. Fiks can help control your back pain.
To learn more about the treatment option best suited to your unique condition, contact Advanced Pain Management Center by phone or online to schedule a consultation in Portland, Oregon, today.
