4 Interventional Pain Management Techniques to Consider

Chronic pain is a health problem that impacts nearly every facet of your well-being. And if you’re one of the 50 million people who live under the daily weight of chronic pain, you know how difficult it can be to manage. 

You might start with painkillers, which can be effective, but they often come with unpleasant side effects and the risk of addiction. Worse, they typically only mask your symptoms for a short time. 

Enter interventional pain management. 

Interventional pain management techniques seek to help you manage your pain quickly, safely, and for good. Dr. David Wu and our team at CurePain have dedicated our practice to bringing these minimally invasive yet powerful treatments to our patients in Torrance, California.

Here’s a closer look at what interventional pain management can do for you. 

1. Epidural corticosteroid injections 

Epidural corticosteroid injections are a common pain management technique that involves injecting a corticosteroid and local anesthetic into the epidural space around your spinal cord. The local anesthetic and steroid reduce inflammation, relieve pain, and help you move more freely. We recommend epidural corticosteroid injections for many causes of back, neck, and even sciatica pain.

We may even recommend that you have these injections in combination with other therapies, such as physical therapy, to address your pain from multiple angles.

2. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) 

RFA is a minimally invasive procedure that uses state-of-the-art technology to relieve back, neck, and joint pain. We harness the power of radio waves to heat up and destroy nerves causing pain, which prevents them from sending pain signals and provides long-lasting relief (potentially for up to a year).

3. Facet joint injections

Like epidural injections, facet joint injections involve administering anesthetics and/or medications into your spine to relieve pain. 

However, with these injections, we direct the needle into the facet joints, the connections between the bones in your spine. 

Facet joints are incredibly effective for treating degenerative conditions and physical injuries. 

4. Spinal cord stimulation 

Spinal cord stimulation is a technique that involves placing a small device under your skin that sends controlled electrical impulses to your spinal cord. Those electrons help block pain signals and provide long-term pain relief. 

We recommend spinal cord stimulation for chronic back pain and neuropathic pain.

Which is right for you?

Your interventional pain management journey starts with an evaluation by Dr. Wu. We thoroughly review your symptoms, health history, and treatment goals and perform a series of tests to understand your needs completely. 

If we determine that interventional pain management is a good option for you, we discuss potential risks and side effects before recommending a treatment plan. 

Chronic pain can keep you from living the life you want, but interventional pain management offers a way out. If you want to find out if you're a candidate, don’t hesitate to schedule a consultation online or over the phone today.