Nearly everyone will experience back pain at some point in their lives. In many cases, this pain will resolve with common treatments like rest and pain medication. But for a significant number of people, it will persist long-term, developing into chronic back pain. Chronic back pain is defined as pain that lasts longer than 12 weeks, even after the initial cause has been treated.
Chronic back pain is more than a simple annoyance. It can have an effect on one’s overall quality of life—from missed days of work, to activity restrictions, to negative impacts on personal relationships. It’s no wonder that many people suffering from chronic back pain are desperate for relief. Thankfully, a growing medical specialty known as interventional pain management may be just the solution they are seeking. Using minimally invasive techniques, interventional medicine can help diagnose and treat chronic back pain.
One of the biggest challenges in determining how to relieve pain is identifying the source of pain. Sometimes, patients’ descriptions of pain and imaging tests like X-rays and MRIs aren’t enough to pinpoint the specific joints or nerves involved. This is where interventional pain management can help.
With the help of special imaging equipment, numbing medication can be injected into a specific region of the back. If the patient reports an improvement in pain after the injection, that region is likely where the pain originates. This provides important information for selecting treatment strategies.
Once the source of the pain is identified, the goal of treatment is to not only alleviate the pain, but also allow the patient to return to normal activities as quickly as possible. There are a number of treatment options available, most of which use X-ray guidance to deliver the therapy directly to the location of pain. Some examples include:
Most successful interventional pain management strategies adopt a multidisciplinary approach, working with a team of medical professionals to address all aspects of a patient’s care. Treating the pain is important but improving the patient’s overall well-being is the ultimate goal.
If you are suffering from chronic back pain and would like to learn more about interventional pain management, schedule a consultation with a physician specializing in pain medicine to find out what treatments may be right for you.