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Back Pain: When Steroid Injections Are the Best Solution

Most people experience back pain at some point in their lives. Acute back pain is common and generally goes away on its own after a few days. Back pain that sticks around for weeks or even months is less common and might require specialized treatment. 

Finding effective treatment for your back can take trial-and-error because pain is highly personal and everyone experiences it differently. If you want relief from back pain, but want to avoid prescription narcotic painkillers, the doctors at Jersey Integrative Health and Wellness can help.

Our experts offer the best non-narcotic treatments for back pain, including steroid injections. These injections help you stay active, so you can enjoy your life.

When to consider steroid injections for back pain

Most of the time, we recommend starting with conservative treatment methods for back pain. Conservative treatments focus on relieving back pain so that taking prescription medications or undergoing more invasive treatment isn’t necessary.

Physical therapy and osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) incorporate controlled hands-on exercises. Both of these treatments can help you build strength and stability while minimizing pain.

Acupuncture and radiofrequency ablation are minimally invasive treatments that our team might also recommend. Acupuncture relieves pain through pressure points across the body, while radiofrequency ablation targets nerve endings to reduce pain signals.

When back pain isn’t relieved with other treatments, it might be time to consider steroid injections. Steroid injections, sometimes called epidural injections or corticosteroid injections, reduce inflammation and calm back pain.

If your pain is due to inflammation or nerve damage in your neck or lower back, your pain may be best treated with steroid injections. Another type of back pain that responds well to steroid injections is spinal stenosis. If you have spinal stenosis, your spinal canal has narrowed and puts pressure on your spinal cord. Steroid injections can help ease the pressure you feel.

What to expect when you get a steroid injection for back pain

Steroid injections target inflammation that’s causing nerve irritation in the spine. They normally contain a steroid that reduces inflammation and an anesthetic to minimize pain. Injections are a temporary treatment method for back pain because they don’t treat the cause of the pain.

When you get a steroid injection at Jersey Integrative Health and Wellness, our team chooses the best type of medication and location for the injection. For example, if your nerve irritation is in your lower back, that’s where our team will inject the medication.

Getting a steroid injection takes just a few minutes in the office. It’s generally well-tolerated and poses a small risk of side effects. The anesthetic may temporarily relieve pain, and the pain-relieving effects of the steroid should develop over the next few days after your injection. While results vary for every person, most people feel relief for several months. 

Our doctors can help you decide if steroid injections should be a part of your ongoing pain management plan. Contact us here to schedule a consultation today.

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