Who Can Benefit from Epidural Steroid Injections?

When most people hear the word “epidural,” their mind immediately goes to childbirth. An epidural actually isn’t just a pain management option that helps with delivery, though. Everyone has an epidural space in their body.

This is the part of your spine that sits outside the actual bones of your spine but inside your spinal cord’s outer covering (the dura mater). The epidural space is made up of fat, blood vessels, connective tissue, and nerve roots. 

That last piece is where people run into problems. If something puts pressure on your epidural space, it can cause radiating nerve pain. 

For that, our team often recommends epidural steroid injections. With this minimally invasive treatment, we can target inflammation and ideally bring you a large measure of relief. We offer this kind of care at all of our Anchor Spine and Joint offices in Tampa, Riverview, Pinellas Park, Odessa, and Lutz, Florida.

Signs an epidural steroid injection might be right for you

Our team can help you decide if this kind of treatment could benefit you. We often use it when more conservative treatments like physical therapy haven’t helped, but the patient isn’t ready for surgery.

We also look for a telltale sign that you’re a good candidate for an epidural steroid injection: radicular pain. This is pain that radiates from its original source to a different part of the body. If you have pain in your lower back, you might experience radicular pain in your legs. Neck pain tends to radiate to the arms. You might experience shooting sensations, burning, tingling, or even numbness. 

That radicular pain can come from a number of spinal issues, including:

• A herniated disc
• Degenerative disc disease
• Sciatica (compression on the sciatic nerve)
• Spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal) 
• Spondylolisthesis (a vertebra slipping out of alignment)

In short, if something is causing inflammation around the nerve roots in your epidural space, injecting a steroid could help. 

What to expect with epidural steroid injections

The injection we apply contains a blend of corticosteroid, which reduces inflammation and the resulting nerve pain, and an anesthetic, which delivers fast pain relief. 

We administer that by having you rest on an exam table, cleaning the area, and precisely positioning the injection. Usually, the entire process takes a half-hour or less. You need to arrange to have someone else drive you home. Then, try to minimize activity for the next couple of days.

Most people notice results within a few days, although they can take up to a week. When effective, epidural steroid injections provide months of notable pain relief. 

If you want to explore epidural steroid injections for yourself, come see our team. We talk with you about your symptoms, other treatments you’ve tried, and what might be right for your body. 

To get started, call the Anchor Spine and Joint office nearest you or book your appointment online today by simply clicking the blue “Request an Appointment” button on our site.