Epidural Steroid Injection

If you have chronic back pain and your current treatment doesn’t seem to be helping, an epidural steroid injection could provide you with much-needed relief. At Minimally Invasive Medical Group’s offices in Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, and Irvine, California, the team delivers highly effective injectable treatments, including epidurals, for common problems like sciatica and spinal stenosis. Call Minimally Invasive Medical Group today or schedule an appointment using the online booking form.

What is an epidural steroid injection?

An epidural steroid injection is a pain-relieving shot that you might need if conservative treatments aren’t improving your chronic back pain. The epidural space is an area in your spine between a membrane called the dura mater and the vertebral wall. Injecting medication into this space helps get to the root cause of your pain.

Initial treatments like medication, activity modification, physical therapies, and lifestyle changes can significantly improve symptoms for most people with chronic back pain. Some people don’t have such success, though, which is when an epidural steroid injection might make a difference.

Epidural injections consist of corticosteroid medication and local anesthetic. The steroid is a powerful anti-inflammatory, which helps relieve inflammation in the spine and surrounding soft tissues. The anesthetic gives you short-term relief from your pain.

The Minimally Invasive Medical Group team uses state-of-the-art image guidance to ensure pinpoint accuracy when delivering epidural injections. You shouldn’t feel any adverse effects afterward other than slight tenderness at the injection site and possibly a headache or mild nausea. Any side effects should pass within a couple of hours.

What conditions can epidural steroid injections treat?

Epidural steroid injections are helpful for various pain conditions. They’re particularly effective if you have back pain from nerve compression or damage.

Nerve compression (pinched nerves) causes shooting-type pain originating from the area where there’s pressure on the nerves. This can result in cervical radiculopathy in your neck, while in your lower back, you might develop lumbar radiculopathy (sciatica).

Nerve compression can arise from problems like spinal stenosis (spinal canal narrowing), facet joint arthritis, herniated discs, bone spurs, and other disorders that cause bone or tissues to interfere with the nerves in your spine.

Epidural injections provide relief from these types of chronic back pain, with the anti-inflammatory effects lasting for several months in some cases.

Are epidural injections safe?

Epidural injections are safe when used by skilled, highly qualified physicians like the Minimally Invasive Medical Group team. Nevertheless, all procedures carry some risk, which is why conservative treatments are the first choice for most patients.

Your provider will go through the risks and potential benefits of epidural injections so you can make an informed choice.

Find out if epidural injections could help with your chronic back pain by calling Minimally Invasive Medical Group today or booking an appointment online.