Epidural Steroid Injection

Epidural steroid injections reduce inflammation in the spine, easing pain in the arms, legs, neck, or back. At Apex Pain Specialists in Chandler, Arizona, the highly skilled board-certified pain management physicians Naveen Reddy, MD, and Maziar Massrour, MD, perform epidural steroid injections to help their patients get lasting relief from their pain. Find out more about epidural steroid injections by calling or booking an appointment online today.

What are epidural steroid injections?

Epidural steroid injections contain an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid the pain physicians at Apex Pain Specialists inject into the epidural space in the spine to reduce inflammation. 

The epidural space is the area outside the “sac” that contains your spinal cord and spinal nerves. The injection reduces nerve or spinal cord inflammation to ease pain. 

Who benefits from epidural steroid injections?

Your interventional pain management physician at Apex Pain Specialists determines who benefits from epidural steroid injections after a comprehensive evaluation. 

Irritation or pinching of the nerves in the epidural space from a herniated disc, spinal stenosis, or a bone spur may cause pain, numbness, and tingling. For example, a cervical herniated disc may impinge a nerve root, a degenerated disc may cause local inflammation, or spinal stenosis may reduce space for the nerves.

Apex Pain Specialists use epidural steroid injections to reduce inflammation and ease these pain symptoms. 

What happens during epidural steroid injections?

Your interventional pain management physician at Apex Pain Specialists reviews the details of your epidural steroid injection at your initial consultation so that you know what to expect. The actual injection only takes a few minutes, but the procedure from start to finish takes about an hour. 

During your epidural steroid injection, you lie on your stomach on an X-ray table. Your provider cleans your skin with an antiseptic agent and injects a local anesthetic to numb the area.

Using X-ray-guided imaging, your provider inserts the needle into your epidural space and injects the medication. 

What can I expect after epidural steroid injections?

Your legs may go numb or feel heavy immediately after the procedure, and you may have a significant reduction in pain. This is the effect of the local anesthetic in the epidural injection and only lasts a few hours. 

It takes about two to three days for the anti-inflammatory medication to take effect. You need to take it easy for the first few days following your injection but may resume most of your usual activities within a week.

The results of epidural steroid injections vary, and you may feel pain relief for a few days or several weeks.

Call Apex Pain Specialists or schedule your epidural steroid injection consultation online today.