Pain can get in the way of everything you love to do. Just ask Amy Allen Fodrill. Her back pain made daily living difficult, but things got really bad at night when she\u2019d lay down and her back would hurt even more. \u201cIt became a daily problem that would kind of infiltrate everything that I did from work, chores at home, even just leisure activities,\u201d explains Amy. \u201cIt was pretty constant and pretty much all I could think about. It made me feel pretty rotten all over.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can you relate? It\u2019s estimated that as many as 40% of American adults suffer from chronic pain and it is one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care according to the CDC.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Wurscher is one of the 40%. One March morning, out of the blue, she woke up in so much pain she couldn\u2019t turn her head. It was hard to even get dressed. Jennifer had no idea what caused the pain, but she knew she couldn\u2019t live like that.<\/p>\n
When you come to RAYUS Radiology for a therapeutic pain injection appointment, you\u2019ll be positioned on the table so the doctor has the most direct access to your body part that\u2019s giving you pain. So, in both Amy and Jennifer\u2019s cases, they were positioned face-down on their bellies.<\/p>\n
The first thing that will happen is that we\u2019ll numb the area. You can expect to feel a little pinch. Neuroradiologist Sharad Chopra, MD describes it like the feeling of getting blood drawn. \u201cIt burns for a few seconds. That’s actually the numbing medicine kicking in, and once we’ve done that, then we give you some deeper numbing medicine. So, again, a little pressure, a little burning for a few seconds. Then after that, what people typically feel is kind of like if I’m pushing on them with my finger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next, we use X-ray image guidance to place the needle in the precise spot where the steroid can go to work. Once the needle is in place, your doctor might inject some contrast material which helps highlight the area. And the last step is injecting cortisone to reduce the inflammation and then to remove the needle.<\/p>\n
Your doctor will explain each step of the procedure, so you know exactly what\u2019s coming next. \u201cThey told me it was going to be painful,\u201d recalls Jennifer, \u201cBut I was actually surprised at how little pain it was. It wasn’t at all what I was imagining.\u201d<\/p>\n