Sharp, burning, or stabbing pain that wraps around the chest or back along a single rib — often after a rib injury, surgery, or shingles.
Upper / Mid Back
You will usually feel this between the shoulder blades or wrapping around the rib cage. Deep breaths, twisting, or pressing on the area can sharpen it. It is sometimes mistaken for a heart or lung problem — once those are ruled out, the pain pattern usually points back to the muscles, joints, or nerves of the chest wall.
Wherever possible, we start with the least invasive option that has good evidence — and we use live image guidance (ultrasound or fluoroscopy) for any injection so the medication goes exactly where it needs to. Many of the procedures we offer for this condition are OHIP-covered when ordered for an appropriate clinical reason; we will be straight with you about what is and what is not before you book.
These are the procedures we most commonly use for the upper / mid back area. The right one depends on your imaging, history, and what has helped before.
A regenerative injection using concentrated cells and growth factors drawn from your own bone marrow. We typically consider this for advanced joint arthritis or stubborn tendon and cartilage problems when other treatments have not held.
A precise injection of long-acting anti-inflammatory medication into the small joints between your vertebrae. Used to relieve confirmed facet-joint pain — typically 4–12 weeks of relief.
An image-guided steroid injection placed between the vertebrae to calm inflamed nerve roots in the neck, mid-back, or low back. Most people feel relief within a week, lasting 4 to 12 weeks.
A diagnostic injection that numbs the small nerves supplying the facet joints. If your pain quiets, we know facets are the source — and you become a candidate for radiofrequency ablation.
A regenerative injection using a processed form of your own platelets in which the healing growth factors are released up front. We typically consider this for nerve-related and tendon pain where a gentler regenerative option is preferred.
A regenerative injection using the healing factors from your own blood. We typically offer this for chronic tendon problems or arthritis when other injections have lost their effect.
Using a fine probe, we gently heat the specific nerve carrying the pain signal from a spinal facet joint. When that nerve quiets down, relief typically lasts 6 to 12 months.
A more targeted version of the epidural injection — placed precisely at the spinal nerve root that imaging shows is being compressed. Used when one specific nerve is the source of your pain.
A small injection of local anaesthetic into the tight, painful muscle knots that come with myofascial pain. Releases the muscle on the spot, easing tension and referred pain.
If Intercostal neuralgia has been getting in the way for more than a few weeks, ask your family doctor for a referral. We will take it from there.
