Epidural corticosteroid injections are used for pain management to treat pinched nerves as they depart the spine through the epidural area. The epidural space is between the spine's bones, discs, nerves, and spinal cord. Disc tissue can herniate into this region, causing pressure and irritation around spinal nerves. Back discomfort caused by a herniated disc (slipped disc), lumbar radiculopathy, spinal stenosis, or sciatica is routinely treated with epidural steroid injections. Corticosteroids are potent anti-inflammatory drugs that can considerably decrease inflammation surrounding irritated nerves that cause back and leg pain when injected into the epidural region.
Who can benefit from a steroid injection in the epidural space?
An epidural injection can help patients with various problems, including lumbar disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, lumbar radiculopathy, sciatica, lumbar spinal stenosis, postherpetic neuralgia, and facet/synovial cysts, etc. An epidural steroid injection by pain management service can be used as a stand-alone nonsurgical therapy or to help with surgical planning.
What are the effects of epidural corticosteroid injections?
Epidural steroid injections operate by providing a solid anti-inflammatory directly to the nerve impingement location in the spine. Steroids, local anesthetics, and saline are some of the injected drugs, and their amount and concentration vary from person to person. Epidural injections in the lumbosacral spine can be administered via three different routes: interlaminar caudal (also known as translaminar); transforaminal. Based on your diagnosis by Pain Management Doctors and if you've had any previous spine procedures, your doctor will determine which approach is best for you.
- A caudal injection is the simplest and least specific approach to access the epidural region. It may be beneficial if numerous parts of the spine are implicated or post-surgical alterations preclude alternative techniques.
- An interlaminar (or translaminar) injection sends medicine straight into the epidural space at the afflicted level, can treat many levels at once, and can be targeted to one side or the other.
- A transforaminal injection administers medicine to the location where a disc herniation compresses the damaged nerve root as it departs the spine. It is the most common method for administering an epidural injection.
Final Thoughts
It is advised that epidural steroid injections be given three to six times each year for best Pain Management in Bronx. Injections may be spaced weeks apart in a new disc herniation to provide rapid and total symptom relief. It's typical to wait three to six months between injections for chronic diseases. Patients with a new disc herniation who respond well to epidural steroid injections may be able to get rid of their discomfort permanently. The desired duration of action for individuals with persistent pain or recurring disc herniations is three to six months or more.
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