Injections for Chronic Back Pain

Epidural steroidal injections are a useful but temporary treatment for chronic back pain. Besides offering pain relief, they also are often helpful in increasing the efficacy of other back therapies since they can help increase mobility in the spinal area.

Identification

• Steroidal injections are cortisone injections administered into the epidural space around the spine to give relief from back pain.

Function

• After the practitioner has determined which nerve is causing the back pain, typically through examinations and an MRI, a fluoroscope is used to guide a needle into the epidural space around the nerve and cortisone is injected. Pain relief is achieved after the cortisone decreases the inflammation affecting the nerve.

Procedure

• Epidural injections are outpatient procedures and take about 20 minutes. After the patient is positioned on the X-ray table, the practitioner will numb the area with a local anesthetic and use a fluoroscope to help guide the needle.

Recovery

• Patients are routinely monitored for 30 to 60 minutes after the epidural injection. In some cases, patients might feel numbness in their arms or legs for a few hours afterward.

Relief From Pain

• In general, it takes 24 to 48 hours for a patient to begin feeling pain relief from a steroidal injection. A patient might remain sore at the injection point for a few days.

Length of Pain Relief

• Some patients claim long-term pain relief from steroidal injections, but the effects of epidural steroidal injections typically last from a few weeks to a few months.