Dealing With Facet Pain In Palm Beach- Finding The Right Treatment Specialist
July 11th, 2010 | Health |Dealing with facet pain Palm Beach is something no one wants to face. Facet joint disorders are the leading cause of low back and neck pain, and can be disabling to many patients. Many doctors will want to jump right in to surgery, but this won’t aways correct the pain, not to mention it can be excruciating and result in long hospital stays. Fortunately you can find physicians who can treat the pain without surgery.
If you are trying to find an alternative method to pain management without undergoing the knife, look for doctors who specialize in epidural steroid injections Palm Beach. These injections focus on the sac of fluid around the nerve roots on the spine. It is believed that the steroid injection can relieve inflammation and even flush away inflammatory proteins that form around the spinal discs that can cause pain.
The relief from pain can last as long as a year, although in most patients it will last several months. More than 50% of patients who undergo epidural steroid injections will experience some form of relief. Most doctors who perform this simple procedure will do no more than 2-3 injections a year. If more injections are needed, other forms of therapy may be recommended.
Injection therapy is much safer than surgery. A spinal headache is a risk if the needle penetrates the sac containing the spinal fluid. Anytime a needle is used to penetrate, there is a risk of infection, although this is very rare. There is also no risk of paralysis with an epidural injection, unlike surgery which will carry this risk.
A good physician in Palm Beach will sit down with you and discuss your options. In most cases the injection therapy is preferred to surgery. There are a few exceptions to this. Patients who have a suspected tumor or infection should not receive an epidural injection. An MRI scan will also need to be ordered before the procedure is scheduled.