Book AppointmentNon surgical treatment of cervical pain
Neck pain treatment is one of the most frequently requested therapies. Neck pain is slightly more common in women, but most people experience some form of neck pain at some point in their life. There are many causes of neck pain and they can generally be separated into “acute” causes and “chronic” causes. If the pain is suddenly occurs and lasts less than two months then it is considered “acute.” Acute neck pain is commonly caused by disc proplapse, facet syndrome, acute muscle strain, or traumatic injury like whiplash. If the pain persists more than two months it is termed “chronic” neck pain. This pain can be from multiple sources, but is often due to facet joints irritation, discs, ligaments, and muscular sources.
What treatment options are available?
Whenever possible, we prefer to use treatments other than surgery. The first goal of these nonsurgical treatments is to ease your pain and other symptoms. Our team will work with you to improve your neck movement and strength. They will also encourage healthy body alignment and posture. These steps are designed to slow the degeneration process and enable you to get back to your normal activities.
Medications
Many different types of medications are typically prescribed to help gain control of the symptoms of neck pain. There is no medication that will cure neck pain. Your doctor may prescribe medications to ease pain, fight inflammation, and to help you get a better night’s sleep.
Soft Neck Collar
If your pain is severe, your doctor may recommend a soft neck collar to keep your neck still for short periods of time. Resting the muscles and joints can help calm pain, inflammation, and muscle spasm.
Ice and Heat Applications
You might also be advised to place a cold pack on your neck for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, or you may be shown how to do a contrast treatment. Contrast treatments involve switching between a cold pack and a hot pack.
Physical Therapy
Some doctors ask their patients to work with a physical therapist. Therapy treatments focus on relieving pain, improving neck movement, and fostering healthy posture. A therapist can design a rehabilitation program to address your particular condition and to help you prevent future problems.
Injections
Spinal injections are used for both treatment and diagnostic purposes. There are several different types of spinal injections that your doctor may suggest. These injections usually use a mixture of an anesthetic and some type of cortisone preparation. The anesthetic is a medication that numbs the area where it is injected. If the injection takes away your pain immediately, this gives your doctor important information suggesting that the injected area is indeed the source of your pain. The cortisone decreases inflammation and can reduce the pain from an inflammed nerve or joint for a prolonged period of time.
Some injections are more difficult to perform and require the use of a fluoroscope. A fluoroscope is a special type of X-ray that allows the doctor to see an X-ray picture continuously on a TV screen. The fluoroscope is used to guide the needle into the correct place before the injection is given.
Epidural Injections
Neck pain or pain that spreads down the arm may require treatment with an cervical epidural injection via interlaminar approach (CEI). In an CEI, the medication mixture is injected into the epidural space around the nerve roots. Generally, an CEI is given only when other nonoperative treatments aren’t working. CEIs are successful in giving good results if source of pain is from disc.
Selective nerve root Injections
Another type of injection to place anti inflammatory medication around a specific inflamed nerve root is called a selective nerve root injection. The fluoroscope is used to guide a needle directly to the painful spinal nerve. The nerve root is then bathed with the medication. Some doctors believe this procedure gets more medication to the painful spot. Selective nerve root for cervical spine is rarely performed due to complications & evidence suggests cervical interlaminar epidural injection in cervical spine works equally well because of small space in cervical spine compared to lumbar spine.
Facet joint Injections
When the problem is thought to be in the facet joints, an injection into one or more facet joints can help determine which joints are causing the problem and ease the pain as well. The fluoroscope is used to guide a needle directly into the facet joint. The facet joint is then filled with medication mixture. If the injection immediately eases the pain, it helps confirm that the facet joint is a source of pain. The steroid medication will reduce the inflammation in the joint over a period of days and may reduce or eliminate your neck pain.
Trigger point Injections
Injections of anesthetic medications mixed with a cortisone medication are sometimes given in the muscles, ligaments, or other soft tissues near the spine. These injections are called trigger point injections. These injections can help relieve neck pain and ease muscle spasm and tender points in the neck muscles.
Radiofrequency ablation of nerves
Radiofrequency Ablation on Nerves done when diagnosis of facetal jointspain is established after diagnostic injection giving relief for few hours. Once we confirm the sources ,the nerve carrying pain from joints can be ablated by high frequency radiowave equipment & needle as day care procedure. Patient has relief for years and once adequate pain relief is given, dynamic rehabilitation with physiotherapy started to strengthen the neck muscles.
