When Is an Epidural the Right Choice for Your Chronic Back Pain?

Among the most common causes of doctor visits and time away from work is lower back pain. In many cases, it’s a minor, temporary condition associated with overexertion or muscle strain.

However, an unlucky few develop chronic pain issues, sometimes even after the original injury heals. The spine is a complex structure and pain disorders associated with it can be equally complex.

The team at Doctors United offer multispecialty care for back pain from our five locations in the Bronx, White Plains, Ardsley, and Yonkers, New York. When conservative treatments fail to relieve your pain, we may suggest epidural injections as an option.

Here’s what you need to know about this form of therapy so that you can make an informed decision on when it’s the right choice for your chronic back pain condition.

Common causes of chronic back pain

When you suffer a pain condition that lasts for 12 weeks or longer, it’s usually defined medically as chronic pain. When it affects your back, it could be from the effects of trauma resulting from a fall, car accident, or other event. 

It’s also common with degenerative and incurable diseases like osteoarthritis and other disorders of the spine, including: 

• Bone spurs
• Herniated discs (spinal disc ruptures)
• Sciatic nerve compression (sciatica)
• Narrowing of spaces through the spine (spinal stenosis)
• Nerve damage (neuropathy)

Pain from these conditions may start out suddenly or as a mild and occasional problem. However, pain can progress, becoming more intense and chronic while interfering with your mobility and quality of life.

When is an epidural the right choice for your chronic back pain? 

Unlike epidurals given to ease the pain of labor and childbirth, those given for chronic back pain use corticosteroids as the active ingredient, usually accompanied by a local anesthetic. This provides both short- and long-term pain management effects. 

The target for these injections is the epidural space around the spine. This space contains a fluid-filled environment that protects your spinal cord and the root nerves that branch from it.

The steroid component of the epidural provides long-lasting anti-inflammatory action that relieves pressure that often contributes to chronic back pain symptoms. 

Conditions treated by a steroid epidural injection

Epidural steroid injections can be effective in reducing your reliance on oral pain medications. In some cases, it may be a better option for those with chronic pain related to conditions like:

• Herniated discs
• Neuropathy
• Sciatica
• Spinal stenosis

You may not be a candidate for epidural steroid injections if your back or neck pain stems from tissue damage that’s not associated with inflammation.

What to expect from an epidural steroid injection

We’ll provide you with procedures to follow ahead of your injection. Typically, we’ll use local anesthetics to keep you comfortable during the process. 

We use a real-time X-ray technology called fluoroscopy to guide the injection to the target spot within your spine. When the process is done, you may feel some tenderness at the injection site, which usually lasts for a few days. 

Some pain relief is usually immediate and the effects get stronger in the hours after your procedure. That’s the effect of the anesthetics in the injection formula. Steroids take longer to work, so you might not experience their full anti-inflammatory effects for a week or more.

We’ll follow up with you to monitor your pain levels, as well as working together to develop an effective treatment plan going forward.

Find out more about epidural corticosteroid injections for back pain by visiting the nearest office of Doctors United. Request an appointment online or call our closest location directly to plan your visit today.