Facial and Spinal Injections for Head, Neck and Back Pain

When back or neck pain won’t go away with conservative treatment such as rest, medication or physical therapy, your medical provider may recommend spinal injections to complement your treatment. For some types of spinal conditions, injections may improve function and reduce inflammation, irritation and swelling. Additionally, spinal injections can be used to diagnose the cause of your neck or back pain. Injections can also be used to treat chronic headaches. People in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area can find relief with injections at Summit Orthopedics.

How Spinal Injections Work

Spinal injections involve injecting medication directly into a specific part of your back or neck. Usually your provider will use fluoroscopy, a type of X-ray guidance, to ensure the injection goes into the precise part of the spine triggering the pain.

The injection process often involves using a local anesthetic to numb the injection site, followed by a contrast injection to ensure the medication will go where it is supposed to. Then your provider will inject the appropriate medication into the site. In some cases, this may be followed by radiofrequency ablation (RFA), a technique to stop nerve pain.

Conditions Treated with Spinal Injections

Spinal injections can effectively treat several causes of chronic back or neck pain and headaches, including:

• Back or neck pain due to injury
• Cervical radiculopathy (pinched nerve in the neck)
• Compression fractures
• Degenerative disc disease
• Facet joint arthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Herniated disc
• Lumbar radiculopathy (pinched nerve in the lower back)
• Migraine
• Myofascial pain syndrome
• Sciatica
• Spondylosis (arthritis in the spine)
• Tension headache

Spinal injections may also be used to treat other types of conditions or pain.

Types of Facial and Spinal Injections

Summit Orthopedics uses several types of facial and spinal injections to treat pain.

Botulinum Toxin for Chronic Migraine

If you are experiencing ongoing headache issues, you may benefit from Botox injections. These tiny facial and neck injections can limit migraine pain in some people for up to three months. Unlike some types of injections, these can be performed during a regular appointment with no special preparation.

Epidural Steroid Injections

People experiencing chronic back and neck pain may be treated with one or more types of injections as their condition progresses, depending on their symptoms. Steroid injections for back pain may improve symptoms and reduce inflammation. (Epidural steroid injections are not the same type of epidural injections you may receive during childbirth.) Summit Orthopedics offers several types of epidural steroid injections to the spine that may last for weeks or a few months.

• Cervical or thoracic epidural steroid injection
• Lumbar epidural steroid injection
• Sacroiliac joint injection

Facet Joint or Medial Branch Blocks

These injections target the small joints that stabilize the spinal vertebrae by injecting a numbing medication into the affected area.

• Cervical or thoracic facet joint block
• Lumbar facet joint block
• Cervical or thoracic medial branch block (facet nerve injections)
• Lumbar medial branch block (facet nerve injection)

Injections for Nerve Pain

Radiofrequency (RF) neurotomy treats pain in the cervical, thoracic or lumbar areas. During this type of injection, your provider uses heat generated by radio waves (radiofrequency ablation) to disrupt nerve function, reducing pain signals to the brain.

• Cervical or thoracic medial branch RF neurotomy
• Lumbar medial branch RF neurotomy

Nerve root injections may also help some people with spinal pain. These injections target specific spinal nerves, delivering a steroid and/or anesthetic to relieve pain and inflammation.

• Cervical or thoracic nerve root injection
• Lumbar nerve root injection

[H3] Injections for Structural Damage

In cases where your provider isn’t sure what is causing your pain but suspects it could be related to your intervertebral discs, you may benefit from:

• Intradiscal injection

People with compression fractures in the spine may need a specialized injection to stabilize the fracture with cement:

• Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty

Deciding If Spinal Injections Are Right for You

Spinal injections have multiple benefits, including:

• Pain relief that may take effect fairly rapidly
• Improved mobility
• Long-term relief of pain that lasts for several weeks or months

By treating immediate pain, injections can also make it easier for you to participate in a physical therapy program designed to strengthen muscles and resolve the underlying cause of the pain. 

However, injections do come with potential risks such as bleeding, infection or nerve damage. Some people may also experience side effects such as allergic reaction, dizziness, headache or nausea. People with bleeding disorders, uncontrolled diabetes or uncontrolled high blood pressure may also not be good candidates for some injections. Your provider will discuss any possible risks and side effects before you receive any facial or spinal injection.

Make an appointment with Summit Orthopedics to learn more about whether spinal injections could help your pain.