Perineural injections are a safe and effective way for treatment of persistent pain. The injections aim to help reduce the neural inflammation such as neuralgia, low back pain, shingles, fibromyalgia, headaches/migraines, nerve impingement and neuropathy. This therapy supports the body to heal itself.
Perineural therapy is subcutaneous injections below the skins surface. Using Dextrose or mannitol in a saline solution combine with sodium bicarbonate. This focuses on areas of skin above nerve pathways to address pain at the root cause. Dr. Alex Del Duca, Naturopathic Doctor offers Perineural Injections at our First Avenue office.
How does this therapy work?
Perineural injections supply the painful skin nerves with a dilute sugar solution and this almost immediately shuts off production of the painful substances and helps the nerve swelling to go down. We don’t know the exact mechanism at the cellular level, but it has been postulated that the dextrose works on the TRVP1 receptors to decrease Substance P and other chemicals that produce pain. Dextrose is also thought to work on ion channels in the affected nerve, once again aiding healing at the cell level.
Goals of Perineural Injections
Every treatment aims to extinguish the pain. After the first treatment pain relief may last for a period of four hours to four days. Repeated treatments (4-6 sessions) usually done weekly, result in gradual reduction of the overall pain, with the aim of complete resolution – a zero pain score – and allow return of full function. Success rates vary between 80-100% depending on the condition. For most conditions recurrence is unlikely unless re-injury occurs.
What are the risks?
Since this is drug-free treatment, and dextrose is a part of normal human function, side effects are rare and include occasional small bruises at the site of injection. Allergy is not an issue.