Epidurals Aren’t Just for the Delivery Room

An epidural is known for blocking pain during labor and delivery. However, that’s not the only reason to consider an epidural injection.

Our Alliance Spine and Pain Centers team specializes in epidural steroid injections, a safe, minimally invasive treatment for neck pain and back pain. For many people, an epidural steroid injection provides the relief they need to return to an active, fulfilling life.

Epidural injections explained

The name reflects the fact that these injections deliver medications into the epidural space within the spine. This space is located between the spinal cord and vertebral bones, and it consists of fat, blood vessels, and spinal nerve roots.

The nerve root is the part of a nerve that hasn’t left the spine to enter the body. Essentially, the root connects peripheral nerves — those outside of the spinal cord and brain — to the spinal cord.

When we inject medicine into the epidural space, it can flow around the targeted nerve root, producing optimal results.

Types of epidural injections

There are two types of epidurals:

Epidural anesthesia

Epidural anesthesia blocks pain during labor and delivery as well as in chest, abdominal, and spine surgeries that don’t need muscle relaxation. Anesthesiologists typically insert a catheter that keeps delivering the medication until it’s no longer needed.

Epidural steroid injections

Epidural steroid injections are a one-time shot containing a local anesthetic and corticosteroid medicine. The anesthesia stops pain signals, quickly but temporarily relieving your pain. We inject a corticosteroid when the nerves are inflamed.

Corticosteroids are powerful anti-inflammatory medicines. They take a few days to work, but after they reduce nerve inflammation, you get longer-lasting pain relief.

We may recommend an epidural steroid injection to relieve pain caused by inflamed spinal nerves. You may need this treatment for conditions such as:

• Chronic back pain
• Chronic neck pain
• Herniated discs
• Spinal stenosis
• Degenerative disc disease
• Bulging discs
• Sciatica
• Facet joint arthritis
• Bone spurs
• Thickened ligaments

In addition to causing pain in your neck and back, these conditions may cause tingling, pain, and numbness in your arms or legs.

What to expect during an epidural steroid injection

Epidural injections are safe because we precisely target the specific nerve roots, and the medication only affects that specific area.

We first clean the injection site and administer an anesthetic to numb the area so you’re comfortable during the procedure. However, you may feel brief sensations like pressure, burning, tingling, or pain when we inject the medication.

Using real-time imaging to see your spine, we guide the needle to the nerve and inject a dye. We watch the dye to confirm that it flows into the desired area. Then we use the same needle to inject the medication.

The injection typically takes 15-45 minutes to complete. We keep you in the office for a short time for observation.

You should be walking immediately after the procedure. The initial anesthesia blocks your pain. However, after the anesthetic wears off, your pain will increase until the corticosteroids take effect.

Epidural steroid injection results

Each person responds to corticosteroids differently, but most experience significant pain relief. If your relief is mild, we may recommend additional injections to improve your results.

Your results may last weeks, months, or years. On average, you can look forward to reduced pain for 3-6 months.

Our team of board-certified providers has extensive experience administering epidural steroid injections. Call to schedule an appointment or request a consultation online today at the Alliance Spine and Pain Centers location near you.