Struggling with Cervical Spine Pain? Proven Interventional Treatments for Lasting Relief

If you’re experiencing neck pain every day, you know how difficult the pain can make your life. Even working at your computer, sleeping, or turning your head while driving can be excruciating.

If your pain doesn’t resolve after a few days and becomes persistent, you may be dealing with an underlying cause. At Pain Management Associates, we offer advanced interventional treatments to provide lasting relief without the need for surgery in many cases.

Here’s what you need to know.

Understanding cervical spine pain

Your cervical spine includes the top seven vertebrae in your neck that support your head, protect your spinal cord, and allow a wide range of neck movements. These vertebrae can wear down, break, or become damaged as a result of an injury, age-related degeneration, poor posture, and repetitive strain.

This stress can result in damage to the discs between your vertebrae, the nerves in your spine, and the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bones in the area. Symptoms include persistent neck pain and stiffness, numbness or tingling in your hands and fingers, headaches, and muscle weakness and pain in your shoulders.

Interventional treatment options

We initially treat neck pain with conservative measures, including rest, physical therapy, and medication. When these treatments don’t provide relief, the next step is interventional treatments that offer lasting relief by addressing the root cause of the problem, rather than just its symptoms. Here are a few of those treatment options:

Epidural steroid injections

This is one of the most common treatments, delivering anti-inflammatory steroids to the epidural space around the spinal nerves and irritated nerve roots. The injection reduces inflammation and relieves pain caused by problems such as a herniated disc.

Radiofrequency ablation

RFA uses heat generated from radio waves to interrupt pain signals sent from specific nerves. This treatment can provide long-term pain relief of up to a year. 

Nerve blocks

Nerve blocks deliver anti-inflammatory or anesthetic medications directly to the nerves that cause your pain. They provide immediate relief by blocking the pain signals that the nerves are sending to your brain.

Facet joint injections

These injections deliver anti-inflammatory medication directly into small joints in your spine called facet joints. The injections help reduce pain and improve your mobility.

Trigger point injections

Ever feel a tight, painful knot of muscle that’s causing your pain? That’s a trigger point, and these injections apply a local anesthetic or saline solution to the knots, helping your muscles relax and reduce your pain.

If you’re at the point where you’re ready for treatment, our team at Pain Management Associates is ready to help. To schedule an appointment, call our office in Greenbelt or use our easy online scheduler to choose your own time.