Nonsurgical spine care to relieve back and neck pain

Neck and back pain may be common, but that doesn’t mean you have to deal with it on your own. The spine experts at TRIA are here to help. We offer a wide range of nonsurgical spine treatments (sometimes called medical spine care) proven to relieve pain and improve function. From physical therapy to minimally invasive interventional procedures, such as epidural steroid injections, we can help you recover from even the most uncomfortable spine condition.

Our spine care specialists will make a personalized treatment plan for you based on your specific symptoms and recovery goals. Whether you want to get back to your favorite sport, move with confidence or simply feel less pain, we can help. Make an appointment for nonsurgical spine care, no referral needed, to take your first step to feeling better.

No matter what kind of nonsurgical spine care you need, you’re in the right place. From physical therapy to injections to minimally invasive procedures, our spine specialists will create a personalized treatment plan for you based on the treatments that are the best fit for your condition.

Usually, nonsurgical spine care plans combine multiple treatments. This keeps you as comfortable as possible by managing symptoms while also helping you heal quickly and safely. Some of the common types of nonsurgical spine treatments we offer include:

Most patients with back pain or other uncomfortable spine symptoms will begin with physical therapy. It’s scientifically proven to be the best first treatment for the majority of spine conditions, and you don’t need a referral to make an appointment with one of our physical therapists.

Physical therapy is a type of treatment that uses exercise, hands-on therapy and education to heal injuries and strengthen muscles. It usually takes about six weeks to complete your treatment plan, but many people start feeling relief from their first visit.

During your first appointment with a spine physical therapist, we’ll perform a physical exam. Our physical therapists are experts in evaluating if a spine condition can be treated with physical therapy or if more advanced care is needed. In the rare case physical therapy is not a good fit for you, we’ll connect you with the appropriate spine specialist.

If your spine condition doesn’t improve after completing your physical therapy plan, you might be a good candidate for the TRIA Neck and Back Strengthening Program, an advanced physical therapy program for severe and chronic spine issues.

There are a variety of medications that can manage back pain, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and muscle relaxers. While medicines don’t typically offer permanent pain relief, they can help keep you comfortable while you wait to feel results from longer-lasting treatments, such as physical therapy. Medications for back pain are typically prescribed alongside other nonsurgical spine treatments.

At TRIA, we use the latest medical evidence to create individualized pain management plans for every patient, and we use alternatives to opioids whenever possible. Your doctor will talk with you about your symptoms, concerns and condition to recommend the medicines that may work best for you.

Spinal injections are used to treat pain and inflammation in the spine. They can provide months of lasting relief from back pain, reduce swelling caused by inflammation, improve function and promote healing. While pain relief from spinal injections can be faster-acting than some other treatments, it isn’t immediate. It may take up to two weeks to feel pain relief after an injection.

During spinal injection treatment, we’ll use local anesthetic to keep you comfortable. We’ll also use an X-ray or ultrasound to guide the needle and confirm the location of the injection. Most spinal injection appointments take 60-90 minutes.

We offer a comprehensive range of injections to manage back and neck pain. Some of the injections we perform include:

• Epidural steroid injections (ESI) – Steroids are a type of anti-inflammatory medicine that can reduce painful swelling. During an ESI, steroids will be injected into the area surrounding your spinal cord to manage back pain.
• Facet joint injections – The facet joints are connected to the vertebrae and give us the ability to bend and twist the spine. During a facet joint injection, we administer cortisone or another steroid into the joint. This can help treat pain caused by spinal stenosis, arthritis or injuries.
• Medial branch block – Medial branches are nerves that tell the brain if there’s pain in the spine’s facet joints. A medial branch block is a type of injection that temporarily stops the medial branches from communicating with the brain, relieving pain. A medial branch block is used before radiofrequency ablation to confirm whether the facet joints are the cause of your back pain. You’ll need two rounds of medial branch block injections before having radiofrequency ablation.
• Sacroiliac joint injection – The sacroiliac joint connects your spine to your pelvis. If it’s inflamed or injured, the sacroiliac joint can cause pain and numbness in the lower back, butt and legs. By injecting steroids into the sacroiliac joint, we can reduce pain and inflammation.
• Trigger point injections (TPI) – Sometimes called a “knot,” a “trigger point” is a tight, painful spot in a muscle. During TPI, we’ll inject medicine into the knot in your muscle to help it relax, improve blood circulation and reduce inflammation.

If your spine pain is caused by arthritis or damaged nerves, radiofrequency ablation might help. There are nerves in the joints whose only job is to tell the brain how the joint feels. Radiofrequency ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that targets these nerves and uses radio waves to stop them from sending pain signals to the brain. While this doesn’t heal the underlying condition, it can provide back or neck pain relief for up to a year.

Before radiofrequency ablation, you’ll first need two rounds of medial branch block injections to determine the cause of your back pain. During radiofrequency ablation, we’ll guide a needle to the affected part of the spine and send heat signals through the needle to disconnect the nerves from the brain. Radiofrequency ablation appointments typically take 60-90 minutes, and you’ll be able to go home the same day.

Spinal cord stimulation is a minimally invasive procedure that uses a stimulator (small generator) implanted under your skin to stimulate your spinal cord with electrical pulses. The electrical pulses are sent to the spinal cord to interfere with the pain signals nerves send to the brain.

You’re able to control the pulses to manage your pain. Most people use the stimulator for 1-2 hours, 3-4 times a day. Your doctor will talk with you about how often and for how long you’re recommended to use it. Using the spinal cord stimulator isn’t painful. Most people report that it causes a tingling feeling. Before you have a spinal cord stimulator implanted, you’ll trial it for a week to see if it helps manage your pain. If the trial is successful, we’ll schedule the procedure.

When we implant the spinal cord stimulator, we’ll use local anesthesia to keep you comfortable. This is an outpatient procedure, meaning you can return home the same day you get the stimulator implanted.

Integrative medicine is a type of holistic treatment that uses the body’s natural healing ability to relieve pain and accelerate recovery. We offer many different types of integrative medicine that are scientifically proven to provide health benefits, including yoga therapy, acupuncture, pain management and TRIA Well consults. These types of treatments are often done alongside others to complement your care plan.