Living with a Spinal Cord Stimulator
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Muscle Relaxants vs. Injections for Herniated Discs: Which Works Better?
When a disc in your back herniates, the damaged portion can push on nerves in your back, causing muscle spasms or intense nerve pain that can even shoot down your legs. Getting the right treatment for each sort of pain is critical to your recovery.
At BioHealth Pain Management, with three California locations, Dr. Rostam Khoshsar and his team work with you to find the right pain management system for your back pain.
Herniated disc overview
A doughnut-shaped, durable disc between each vertebra of your spine absorbs the shocks of your body’s movements. These flexible discs have a rubbery outer shell with a soft, gel-like ring inside.
When pressure on your spine from a degenerative condition or an injury causes the disc to tear a little, it herniates, and some of the gel bulges through. In extreme cases, the disc can be pushed out of position or flattened, allowing vertebrae to grate together, the friction causing muscle and/or nerve pain.
Herniated discs often don’t require surgery. If given time, your body will heal. However, pain can prevent you from having the correct posture or being mobile while you heal, necessitating pain treatment.
Muscle relaxers vs. injections
All back pain isn’t the same, not even pain from herniated discs. The appropriate treatment will focus on the source of the pain, targeting where it comes from rather than masking it.
Muscle relaxers
Oral muscle relaxers are valuable for quickly and effectively easing spasms in the upper, middle, or lower back. They work by reducing central nervous system activity.
The drawback of muscle relaxers is that they can make you feel groggy. That’s why you need a pain specialist to tell you if muscle relaxers are what you need, not a doctor who will just prescribe them automatically as a front-line treatment.
Injections
Injectable medications like nerve blocks relieve pain by reducing tissue inflammation near the damaged disc. This relieves pressure on the nerves that run alongside your spine.
If you experience shooting pains in your arms or legs or tingling or numbness in your limbs, a nerve-targeting injection would be better than muscle relaxers for relief.
When you visit BioHealth Pain Management, Dr. Khoshsar will collect a complete medical history and ask specific questions about how you herniated your disc and what your pain is like. He’ll proceed with treatment based on the source of your pain.
Do you have questions about herniated discs or back pain? Contact your nearest location today or book an appointment online.
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