Epidural Injection
What is an epidural injection?
During an epidural injection, your provider delivers medicine into the epidural space within your spine for pain relief.
It often includes a steroid, such as cortisone, to reduce inflammation and a numbing agent to ease the pain. Pain relief from epidural injections might last weeks, months, or even years.
What are epidural injections used for?
Your practitioner may use epidural injections to ease chronic pain in your back, neck, hips, legs, or arms. The pain might be due to:
- Disc herniation
- Disc degeneration
- Spinal stenosis
- A weak spinal fracture
- Sciatica
To help determine the cause of chronic pain, your doctor uses blood or imaging tests, a physical examination, and a review of your medical history and symptoms.
What happens during an epidural injection?
If your doctor determines you’re a good candidate for an epidural injection for pain relief, arrange for someone to drive you home the day of the procedure.
During treatment, you lie on a comfortable exam table. Your doctor may offer you a sedative to help you feel more relaxed. They numb the treatment area with a local anesthetic to enhance comfort.
Your pain management physician then inserts a needle into the epidural space between the bony vertebrae. You might feel some pressure. An epidural injection procedure might last about an hour, with a short recovery time after treatment.
What happens after the procedure?
After your injection, you can walk around and recover for a short time before having someone drive you home. You usually resume normal everyday activities the day after the procedure.
You might experience temporary soreness at the injection site. Take over-the-counter pain medicines or apply ice to the area as needed to enhance comfort.
Pain relief from epidural injections might last weeks or years, depending on how your body reacts. Your doctor lets you know how often to schedule follow-up appointments to monitor your progress and results. They might recommend additional pain relief treatments to complement epidural injections.
Don’t live with long-lasting pain when you don’t have to. Schedule an epidural injection consultation with Raj Pain Clinic and Recovery Centers over the phone or online today.
