Who is epidural injection applied to?
Steroid given to the epidural area is effective by reducing inflammation. The general purpose of epidural injection is to eliminate the edema in the hernia onset or herniated disc region, to reduce inflammation around the disc and possible nerve root compression. Epidural steroid injection is mainly applied in the lumbar (low back) and cervical regions.
Various injection
methods used in low back pain provide rapid and complete recovery in many painful diseases of the low back. These injections are typically applied to patients who have used various drugs for low back pain and have not benefited from it, who have not been able to provide sufficient relief in pain with physical therapy methods, who do not require surgical intervention, or who are at risk of receiving general anesthesia (such as advanced heart, kidney, lung diseases). These injections are used to relieve pain, but are also useful for revealing the source of pain. It is a procedure that has been used in the treatment of various spinal pains for more than 40 years in the world, provides good results and has very few side effects.
What is Lumbar – Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection?
In this procedure, anesthetic and steroid medication is injected into the epidural space. Steroid administered to the epidural area is effective by reducing inflammation. The general purpose of the epidural injection is to eliminate the edema in the hernia onset or the herniated disc region, to reduce the inflammation around the disc and possible nerve root compression. Epidural steroid injection is mainly applied in the lumbar (waist) and cervical (neck) regions.
What to Do During Injection?
Medication will be given through your vein to relax and calm you down. Your skin will be anesthetized with a local anesthetic so that you do not feel pain during the procedure. Your doctor inserts the needle into the epidural space. It is the administration of a drug containing cortisone + anesthetic drug to the area as an edema solvent for the problem of back and neck hernia. Cortisone is a drug with a bad reputation in our country. However, when you give cortisone to a patient abroad, he thanks me and says you are doping.
What Will Happen After Injection?
You will be kept under observation for 60 minutes after the injection. The clinic will give you in writing what you need to do and your medication. To help your doctor, determine the change in your pain according to yourself. You may want to do lower back movements to see if your pain is gone, but don’t do it too much. You can see that your pain is gone immediately. You may feel numbness in your lower back and feet for up to 6 hours. This shows that your medicine is given to the right place. Numbness may not always be seen. You can return to work the next day. However, studies have shown that the maximum effect of the drug occurs 7-10 days after the average procedure.
How Long Does It Take for Your Pain to Go away?
It depends on how much area is damaged and the amount of swelling (swelling) that occurs. Usually, this procedure provides relief for several months. If there are no other bone or joint problems, a single injection is sufficient. If your pain is caused by one or more areas, a single injection will help some of your symptoms go away.
