When you’re in significant chronic pain or discomfort, finding an effective solution is an important part of bringing you relief and restoring your quality of life. No matter what the source of your pain, you’ll be delighted to hear you have many pain resolution options.
Board-certified pain management specialist Hasan Badday, MD, of Pacific Pain & Regenerative Medicine in Irvine and Los Angeles, California, can help you manage the pain you’re experiencing with injection therapy. Keep reading to learn more about injection therapy and how to determine if it’s the right solution for your chronic pain.
How injection therapy works
Injection therapy involves injecting medication or steroids that stop your pain into the part of your body causing your discomfort and sometimes other muscles or joints as well. Injections vary in how they work, but generally speaking they relieve your pain by blocking pain receptors or nerve endings that cause you to feel pain.
Some of the most common injections include facet joint injections, epidural steroid injections, sacroiliac joint steroid injections, selective nerve root block, lumbar sympathetic block, and Botox®.
Dr. Badday performs injection therapy at both of his practices. Depending on the specific injection treatment you receive, you can expect to start to feel less pain between a few hours and a couple of weeks after your injection.
When you should consider getting injection therapy
When you have your initial appointment with Dr. Badday, he evaluates you and determines the best course of pain relief for your personal diagnosis and situation. Following are some of the reasons you might want to consider getting injection therapy for your pain.
You experience chronic pain, discomfort, or inflammation
Injection therapies are an effective form of pain relief for many types of chronic pain. Conditions that can be treated with injection therapy include:
- Arthritis and other joint pain
- Spine injuries and nerve damage
- Sports injuries
- Back pain
- Headaches
- General chronic pain and inflammation
Typically, Dr. Badday recommends injection therapy if the pain you’re experiencing is chronic. This means your pain has lasted more than approximately six months.
Other pain relief techniques haven’t worked
Initially, Dr. Badday might suggest making lifestyle changes that often relieve pain. Examples of lifestyle changes can include changing your diet, practicing stress reduction techniques, quitting smoking, and doing gentle stretching or low-impact exercise.
These changes sometimes relieve chronic pain on their own, but if yours persists, Dr. Badday often recommends trying injection therapy. He also may recommend injection therapy if other pain management treatments, like medications, haven’t brought you relief.
You’re looking for minimally invasive, non-addictive pain relief
Compared to options like surgery for chronic pain, getting injection therapy is minimally invasive and carries significantly fewer risks. Dr. Badday administers all injection therapy on an outpatient basis from one of his office locations, and, depending on the injection Dr. Badday prescribes, you can usually go back to your normal activities immediately or within 1-2 days of your injection.
Injection therapy is also non-addictive, so it can be a good option if your pain is otherwise only treatable with potentially addictive pain relief medications.
If you experience chronic pain that’s diminishing your quality of life, injection therapy might be the right choice for you. To schedule a consultation at Pacific Pain & Regenerative Medicine, book an appointment online or call our office most convenient to you.
