Bottom Line:

If you’ve suffered from pain in your arm or leg, it could be caused by a spinal disc pressing on one of your nerves. If a medical doctor recognizes a pinched nerve on your MRI, they might refer you for a spinal injection. While this seems like a normal process, new research has begun to show that spinal injections aren’t very effective at treating back pain, and the risks may far outweigh the rewards. Keep reading to discover a better path towards relief.

Why it Matters:

Spinal injections often can’t provide long term relief because they don’t address the cause of the pain: your pinched nerve. Reducing compression and opening space for the nerve is a better strategy. Chiropractic care can help improve the motion of your spine and decrease the irritation on your spinal nerves that causes pain. New research has found that chiropractic adjustments can provide more relief than injections, without any of the associated risks.

• Spinal injections have been shown to be ineffective at providing relief for low back pain.
• Chiropractic can offer more relief than spinal injections for people with lumbar disc herniations according to a paper published in JMPT.
• One study found Chiropractic patients experiencing up to 60% relief, while another discovered patients receiving spinal injections only reported 14% relief.

Next Steps:

The research is clear: before getting a spinal injection, it’s a smart decision to explore Chiropractic. We believe your body has an incredible ability to heal itself. Medications mask the symptoms, but to find lasting relief- you need to address the cause. If a spinal disc issue is affecting the life of you or someone you know, give us a call and get your life back!

Science Source(s):

The Effectiveness and Risks of Fluoroscopically Guided Lumbar Interlaminar Epidural Steroid Injections. Pain Science 2017 Interlaminar versus transforaminal epidural injections for the treatment of symptomatic lumbar intervertebral disc herniations. Pain Physician 2006