Pinpoint Precision: How Image-Guided Injections Target Pain at the Source

You tried the conservative care approach, but after many months of oral pain medication, physical therapy, activity modification, heat therapy, massage, and other proven methods, your chronic pain is still there — and it’s still disrupting your sleep, sidelining you from your usual activities, and making you feel miserable. 

You’re more than ready to try an interventional pain relief procedure. 

Image-guided medicated injections are part of many next-level pain management plans at Interventional Sports and Pain Management Associates. Dr. Okezie N. Okezie explains how this ultra-precise treatment targets your pain at its source to give you effective, long-lasting relief.  

A versatile pain relief treatment

For chronic pain that hasn’t responded to initial treatments, injection therapy delivers nerve-calming medications — like anti-inflammatory corticosteroids and local anesthetics — straight to the source of your pain for fast, effective relief. 

A versatile pain management approach with a range of beneficial applications, medicated injections can help alleviate discomfort caused by:

• Osteoarthritis  
• Herniated discs
• Chronic sciatica
• Spinal stenosis
• Myofascial pain 
• SI joint dysfunction
• Facet joint arthritis
• Tendonitis injury
• Bursitis irritation
• Neuropathic pain

Pain relief injections fall into four general categories:

Spinal injections

Epidural steroid injections (ESIs), spinal blockades, facet joint injections, and sacroiliac joint (SI) injections are used to ease persistent back pain, neck pain, and sciatic nerve pain caused by chronic or progressive conditions like herniated discs or spinal stenosis. 

Joint injections

These medicated injections deliver lasting relief for joint pain and stiffness caused by arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, carpal tunnel, and other joint conditions, leading to improved function and mobility.

Soft tissue injections

Trigger point injections in the sheath of connective tissue (myofascia) that covers your muscle tissue help relax painful knots (trigger points) to ease myofascial pain syndrome, or persistent muscle-related pain. 

Neural blockades 

Neural blockades target specific nerves, causing pain relief. Also known as nerve blocks, these injections can treat joint, soft tissue, and spine-related pain; they can also be used to help manage chronic headaches, peripheral neuropathy, cancer pain, and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). 

How image-guided injections work

Conventional “blind” medicated injections rely on anatomical landmarks and a physician's experience to deliver soothing medications to a general pain area. 

Image-guided injections leverage detailed, real-time imaging techniques to guide the ultra-precise placement of therapeutic injections at the exact source of pain. The process happens in three steps: 

1. Noninvasive imaging

To pinpoint the exact location of the injured, inflamed, or irritated nerve that’s causing your pain, Dr. Okezie scans the affected area with a noninvasive imaging method such as fluoroscopy (continuous live X-ray), ultrasound, or CT scanning.   

2. Precision guidance

Dr. Okezie uses the imaging guidance to precisely navigate the injection into the exact target area — carefully avoiding nerves, blood vessels, and other sensitive structures.

3. Medication delivery

Once the needle is accurately positioned, Dr. Okezie injects the therapeutic medications directly to the source of your pain and inflammation, and you experience rapid relief. 

Greater precision and effectiveness

Image-guided pain relief injections offer several major advantages over blind injections:

Enhanced treatment accuracy

Detailed visual guidance ensures direct medication delivery to the source of your pain.

Faster, more effective relief

Targeted delivery concentrates the nerve-soothing medication exactly where it’s needed, leading to faster — and often, more sustained — pain relief.

Reduced risk of complications

Image guidance helps Dr. Okezie avoid critical structures like nerves and blood vessels, drastically minimizing the risk of complications like pain, bleeding, and nerve damage.

Increased comfort, less stress

Single-attempt, precise needle placement makes image-guided injection therapy more comfortable and less stressful than blind pain relief injections, which can require multiple attempts to “get it right.” 

Reduced need for pain meds

Targeting your pain directly at its source can significantly reduce your reliance on oral pain medications in the months after treatment. This often translates to a long-term reduction in pain medication use as you engage in supportive modalities like physical therapy. 

May delay or prevent surgery 

Image-guided injections are far less invasive than surgery, offering a helpful alternative for those who are looking to delay or prevent the need for surgical treatment.  

Your partner in pain management 

If you have chronic pain that hasn’t improved sufficiently with first-line therapies — but hasn’t progressed to the point of requiring surgery — you may benefit from image-guided pain relief injections. Contact your nearest Interventional Sports and Pain Management Associates office in Humble or Baytown, Texas, to learn more.