5 Treatment Options For Spinal Nerve Pain

Category: Spine Pain | Author: Stefano Sinicropi

Predicting Back Pain

Numerous nerves pass through the spinal canal and near other spinal structures, so it’s not uncommon for them to become compressed or damaged. Left untreated, these affected nerves can lead to pain, numbness, functional weakness or other physical issues. The good news is that depending on the root cause of nerve pain, there are a number of treatment options at your disposal. In today’s blog, we share five treatment options for spinal nerve pain.

Treating Spinal Nerve Pain

Dr. Sinicropi and his team offer a number of different treatment courses for your nerve discomfort based on the root cause. Depending on your individual needs, they may recommend one of the following treatment options:

  1. Physical Therapy – Physical therapy is one of the most commonly recommended forms of non-operative treatment to help with spinal nerve pain. If your nerve issues are being caused by a shifted spinal disc, physical therapy can help to maneuver the disc back into the correct location and take pressure off the spinal nerves.
  2. NSAIDs – Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also known as NSAIDs, are over-the-counter medications that help to control inflammation in the body. Inflammation is your body’s natural response to trauma and injury, but localized inflammation can compress nerves and cause pain or discomfort. Controlling inflammation and swelling with the help of NSAIDs can help decompress areas that are putting pressure on spinal nerves.
  3. Spinal Injections – If NSAIDs aren’t enough, an epidural or corticosteroid injection could numb an area and drown out pain signals to your brain. The concentrated numbing of an area can also make it easier for other interventions like physical therapy or exercise to be performed. An injection isn’t a great stand-alone long-term option, but it can be paired with other treatment techniques to hopefully provide extended relief from nerve pain.
  4. Nerve Ablation – Nerve ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that uses radiofrequency waves or a similar method to kill a small section of a problematic nerve. Essentially, these waves create a roadblock in the nerve so that pain signals cannot freely pass up the nerve to be interpreted by the brain. Learn more about radiofrequency ablation in this blog dedicated to the subject.
  5. Decompression Surgery – A final way that we can help put an end to your spinal nerve pain is through a decompressive surgical procedure. For example, if your nerve pain is being caused by a herniated spinal disc, the optional treatment may be to remove a portion of the damaged disc with a decompression operation. Removing the disc will take pressure off of the nerves in the area, and the surgeon will work to stabilize the disc area so that it doesn’t shift and cause problems in the future.

So if you are dealing with spinal nerve pain, consider reaching out to Dr. Sinicropi and his team to see if one of the above methods or another treatment option may be right for you. Contact his office today for more information.

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