When a Spinal Injection Might Be the Best Treatment for Your Neck Pain

Neck pain is a leading cause of disability in the United States, affecting more than 30% of Americans every year. Fortunately, a lot of people find relief with simple treatment options, like rest, massage, or physical therapy. When these options don’t work, spinal injections are often a good next step.

The Jersey Integrative Health and Wellness team offers an array of pain management options for acute and chronic neck pain, including spinal injections, at our offices in Pompton Plains, Boonton, and Jersey City, New Jersey. Here’s how to tell if injections might be right for you.

When injections are the right choice for neck pain

Oftentimes, neck pain is related to muscle strain from heavy lifting or an injury. Recently, many office workers have developed ‘tech neck,’ which refers to pain from spending hours bent over your phone or computer screen.

Other times, neck pain is caused by nerve irritation, possibly from a herniated disc or swelling around a nerve. You can often treat these types of neck pain with noninvasive treatment options, like rest, physical therapy, or medications to relieve pain and inflammation. 

Sometimes, though, these options just don’t provide consistent, long-lasting relief. In those instances, our team may recommend injections to help relieve both the pain and the inflammation that’s playing a role in your symptoms.

A number of degenerative or chronic conditions can cause this type of neck pain, including:

• Arthritis
• Degenerative disc disease
• Spinal stenosis
• Herniated discs

We may also recommend neck injections as a way to help some patients avoid or delay neck surgery.

Types of spinal injections 

We can treat neck pain with different types of injections depending on the underlying cause of your pain. Our experts administer injections using local anesthetics and X-ray guidance to ensure optimal and precise delivery of the medication

Corticosteroid nerve blocks

Corticosteroids have very powerful anti-inflammatory properties. That makes these injections a good choice when inflammation plays a role in your pain. We often recommend corticosteroid injections for pain caused by a herniated disc or swelling due to whiplash. 

Injections are typically administered right around the nerve that’s causing your pain. After your injection, your relief can last for months or even a year.

Epidural injections

When we hear the word “epidural,” most of us think of the injections that aid in relieving pain during childbirth. But the term “epidural” actually refers to the space around your spine — specifically, the space just below the dura, the thin membrane that surrounds your spine. This is the epidural space, and it primarily contains fat and blood vessels.

We deliver epidural injections to the epidural space. They’re often recommended for people with nerve compression (“pinched” nerves) or degenerative conditions, like cervical stenosis.

Facet joint injections

A lot of us don’t think about our spine having joints, but there’s a joint wherever two vertebrae meet. Your neck contains seven vertebrae connected by facet joints. 

Like other joints in your body, facet joints can develop arthritis and other joint problems that cause pain and stiffness. If the joint swells or enlarges, it can press on nerves as they exit your spine, resulting in pain, numbness, or weakness in your arms and hands.

Facet joint injections deliver medications to these joint spaces. Typically, the injections include an anesthetic and an anti-inflammatory agent, like a corticosteroid.

Find the right treatment for your neck pain

Sometimes neck pain responds to conservative options, like stretching or oral pain relievers. But it’s also great to have another option when those methods fail. Spinal injections deliver medicine directly to the source of pain, for greater effect and long-lasting results.

With locations in Boonton, Pompton Plains, and Jersey City, New Jersey, Jersey Integrative Health and Wellness is committed to providing individualized care for every patient. If you have neck pain, let our team work with you to find a solution. To schedule your evaluation, book an appointment online or over the phone today.