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Pain Medicine guides
18 plain-English, evidence-linked guides in Pain Medicine, with clinical review status shown on each page.
Back and neck pain management (Non-specific spinal (back and neck) pain management)Non-surgical care for back and neck pain, focused on staying active, understanding the pain, and a sensible plan rather than scans, strong painkillers or rushing into surgery.Botox for chronic pain (Botulinum toxin type A injections for chronic pain (including chronic migraine))Botulinum toxin (Botox) injections used to try to reduce certain long-term pain problems, most clearly chronic migraine, when other treatments have not worked.Chronic pain assessment and management (Assessment and management of chronic (persistent) pain)An ongoing, whole-person plan to reduce the impact of long-term pain and help you do more, built around activity, psychological support and self-management rather than a cure.Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) managementSpecialist, team-based care for complex regional pain syndrome — a poorly understood condition causing severe limb pain — focused on early recognition, physiotherapy-led rehabilitation and support, not a quick fix.Dorsal root ganglion block (Dorsal root ganglion block (nerve root block / transforaminal injection))An X-ray-guided injection of local anaesthetic, often with a steroid, around the dorsal root ganglion (a swelling on a spinal nerve as it leaves the spine), used to find out which nerve is causing arm or leg pain and to try to settle that pain for a while.Epidural steroid injection (for back pain or sciatica) (Epidural corticosteroid injection)An injection of steroid, usually with local anaesthetic, around the nerves in the spine to ease leg or arm pain from an irritated nerve.Facet joint injection (Facet joint injection (intra-articular facet block))An X-ray or ultrasound-guided injection of local anaesthetic, usually with a steroid, into one or more of the small facet joints of the spine to see whether they are a source of pain and to try to settle it for a while.Intrathecal drug delivery (pain pump) (Intrathecal drug delivery system (implanted pain pump))An implanted pump that delivers pain or anti-spasm medicine directly to the fluid around the spinal cord, used only for selected people with severe pain after other options have failed and a trial.Medial branch block (Medial branch block (diagnostic facet nerve block))A mainly diagnostic injection of local anaesthetic onto the small nerves (medial branches) that supply the facet joints of the spine, used to find out whether those joints are causing your pain and whether radiofrequency denervation might help.Pain medicine consultation (Consultation with a pain medicine specialist)A specialist appointment to understand your long-term pain as a whole person and agree a realistic plan — not, on its own, a procedure or a promise of a cure.Peripheral nerve block (Peripheral nerve block (for chronic pain))An injection of local anaesthetic, sometimes with a steroid, onto or near a specific nerve outside the spine, used to see whether that nerve is carrying your pain and to try to settle it for a while.Pulsed radiofrequency treatment (Pulsed radiofrequency treatment of nerves for chronic pain)A needle-based treatment that delivers short bursts of radio-wave energy near a nerve to try to calm long-term pain, without deliberately destroying the nerve.Radiofrequency denervation (Radiofrequency denervation (facet rhizolysis / medial branch neurotomy))A procedure that uses heat from a fine probe to interrupt the small nerves supplying the facet joints of the spine, aiming to reduce facet-joint pain for several months in people who first had a positive diagnostic nerve block.Sacroiliac joint injection (Sacroiliac joint injection (SIJ injection))An X-ray or ultrasound-guided injection of local anaesthetic, often with a steroid, into or around the sacroiliac joint where the spine meets the pelvis, used to see whether that joint is causing your pain and to try to settle it for a while.Sciatica management (Management of sciatica (lumbar radicular pain))Non-surgical care for sciatica — nerve pain that travels down the leg — focused on staying active and a sensible plan, since most cases settle over weeks to months without surgery.Spinal cord stimulator (assessment and implant) (Spinal cord stimulation: assessment, trial and implantation)An implanted device that sends mild electrical pulses to the spinal cord to try to reduce certain long-term nerve pain, used only for selected people after a trial period.Sympathetic nerve block (Sympathetic nerve block (for example stellate ganglion block or lumbar sympathetic block))An injection of local anaesthetic around a cluster of 'sympathetic' nerves to see whether quietening them eases certain kinds of long-term nerve pain.Trigger point injection (Trigger point injection (for myofascial pain))An injection into a tender 'knot' in a muscle to try to ease localised muscle pain, usually as one part of a wider plan.
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