Epidural Steroid Injections

Epidural steroid injections treat many spinal conditions, ranging from herniated discs to sciatica. Mohamed Hablas, DPT, and the experienced team at Outreach Manual Physical Therapy PC in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood in New York City use epidural steroid injections to treat back and neck pain conditions when they don’t respond to noninvasive options. Call the office today or book an appointment online to discuss your suitability for epidural steroid injections.

What are epidural steroid injections?

Steroids are anti-inflammatory drugs. They’re more potent than ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) but can have adverse effects when taken in pill form.

Injecting steroid medications directly into damaged tissues and joints resolves this problem. It also has the benefit of concentrating the anti-inflammatory effects in a precise location.

The epidural space is a gap around your spinal cord. Steroid injections into the epidural space reach the nerve roots that your pain is originating from.

Epidural steroid injections often contain a local anesthetic in addition to the corticosteroid. The anesthetic provides significant, immediate pain relief, lasting several hours.

When should I consider epidural steroid injections?

The Outreach Manual Physical Therapy PC team might recommend epidural steroid injections for spinal conditions such as:

• Herniated discs
• Arthritis
• Degenerative disc disease
• Spinal stenosis (narrowed spinal canal)
• Spondylolisthesis (slipping vertebrae)
• Lumbar radiculopathy (sciatica)
• Cervical radiculopathy (nerve-related neck pain)

These disorders cause chronic back and/or neck pain. Often, the reason is nerve compression (radiculopathy). The nerves branching from your spinal cord pass through the foramen (gaps in the vertebrae) and extend throughout your body.

Disc damage or deterioration, thickened ligaments, bone spurs, misaligned vertebrae, and other abnormally situated tissues can press on one or several nerves.

As well as pain, radiculopathy can cause numbness, weakness, unpleasant tingling, prickling skin, and burning sensations. These symptoms may spread into your arms with cervical radiculopathy or your legs if you suffer from lumbar radiculopathy.

Patients often improve with conservative treatments like physical therapy, oral medication, and activity modification. However, if your pain doesn’t improve sufficiently, your provider might suggest an epidural steroid injection to relieve your symptoms.

Do epidural steroid injections hurt?

The Outreach Manual Physical Therapy PC team gives you a local anesthetic before an epidural steroid injection to ensure you feel no pain during the treatment. Your provider uses state-of-the-art imaging technology to view the spine as they inject the medication. Imaging ensures minimal tissue damage and optimal accuracy.

You may be a little sore at the injection site once the local anesthetic wears off. However, it shouldn’t be painful and will pass in a day or so. You should feel your symptoms start to improve a week or two after your epidural steroid injection. This improvement can continue for several months.

Call Outreach Manual Physical Therapy PC today to learn how epidural steroid injections can reduce back and neck pain. You can also book an appointment online.