Injections

Types of Injections

WHAT ARE TRIGGER POINT INJECTIONS?

A trigger point injection is generally indicated to treat painful areas of muscle or knots of muscle that can form in any muscle of the body. During this injection, medication is placed into the trigger point to help alleviate the localized pain, as well as the referred pain from this trigger point. The medication injected is generally a combination of steroids and anesthetics.

WHAT ARE NERVE ROOT INJECTIONS?

The injection is performed to help temporarily decrease pain and to more precisely define it. It is applied in the sheath that surrounds the nerve root. To decrease inflammation and pain, a local anesthetic and a therapeutic steroid are used.

WHAT ARE SACROILIAC JOINT INJECTIONS?

A sacroiliac joint injection is generally indicated for buttock pain, which may radiate to the thigh or lower leg. During this injection, medication is placed into the sacroiliac joint to help alleviate the buttock pain, which comes from this inflamed joint. The medication injected is generally a combination of steroids and anesthetics.

WHAT ARE FACET JOINT INJECTIONS?

Facet joint injections or medial branch blocks are performed to diagnose pain being caused by the facet joints in your neck and will not relieve pain caused by intervertebral discs, spinal nerves, or muscles, which can continue to cause pain after the procedure.

WHAT ARE NERVE BLOCKS?

Nerve blocks are dual-purpose injections – they can be either diagnostic (to tell whether or not a nerve issue is causing pain) or therapeutic (to stop pain that is caused by a nerve or the structure the nerve feeds) or both. Common examples of nerve blocks are peripheral nerve block, sympathetic nerve block, and spinal nerve block.

WHAT ARE EPIDURAL STEROID INJECTIONS?

There are three types of epidural steroid injections: lumbar, cervical and transforaminal. These treatments involve an injection of corticosteroids (similar to cortisone) into the space just outside the covering (the dura) of the spinal cord in your lower back. Because the injection is outside (epi) the dura, it is called an epidural injection.

WHAT ARE STEROID INJECTIONS?

Steroid injections (often called Cortisone injections) focus on treating acute or chronic inflammation that is causing pain. Steroids are highly effective at reducing inflammation and injecting them directly into an area allows a much smaller dose to be used, which limits the side effects of steroids. The goal of steroid injections is to target the inflamed tissue and reduce pain by directly reducing inflammation.

WHAT ARE PRP INJECTIONS?

Platelet Rich Plasma is an advanced regenerative medicine therapy that utilizes the body’s own natural healing mechanisms to heal injured soft tissue, including tendons, muscles, and ligaments.

WHAT ARE STEM CELL INJECTIONS?

Stem cell injections use the patient’s own bone-marrow or adipose derived stem cells to activate the body’s own natural healing process to help relieve pain from acute or chronic injuries – especially injuries to tendons, ligaments, discs, joints, muscles, and other soft tissues.

WHAT ARE ALLOGRAFT INJECTIONS?

Allograft injections use products derived from other patients to activate the body’s natural healing process. There are a variety of different allograft preparations available and these are often used in patients whose own PRP or stem cells may be less suitable for activating the healing process (such as older patients, smokers, or patients on chronic NSAID or anti-platelet therapy).

WHAT ARE GT BURSA INJECTIONS?

Trochanteric bursitis is a painful condition of the lateral hip. One effective therapy is injecting the greater trochanter under fluoroscopic guidance with local anesthetic and steroid. The injection aims to offer prolonged pain relief and decrease in inflammation of the bursa. The local anesthetic and steroid decreases the inflammation associated with this painful condition.