The Benefits of an Epidural Injection For Combating Back Pain

You used to be far more active, but your back pain has sidelined you and made your world more than a little uncomfortable.

If you consider that nearly 40% of adults in the United States report back pain, you can see why finding relief is a top priority for millions of Americans.

The experienced SOAR Spine and Orthopedics team is here to tell you that you’re not without options for back pain. One of the most effective workhorses in our back pain treatment arsenal is the lumbar epidural injection, and we review how this treatment works.

What is an epidural injection?

Let’s first look at what we’re referring to with epidural lumbar injections by breaking down the name.

The word epidural refers to the space around the outside of your spinal cord and the inside of the vertebrae, running the length of your spine.

Next, we have lumbar, which refers to your lower back.

Lastly, we have injections, and this one is obvious.

So, putting it all together, lumbar epidural injections are treatments that we deliver via a needle into the epidural space in your lower back. These injections contain a local anesthetic and a steroid, which combat the pain and inflammation causing your discomfort.

Epidural injections face back pain challenges

There are many different roads to back pain, which is the initial reason why back pain can be so challenging. Since there are many causes, treatments that work across the board can be hard to find.

Using lumbar epidural injections works for most spine-related issues in which nerve compression is causing pain. Along your spine, 31 pairs of spinal nerves exit your spine to create the vast peripheral nerve network in your body.

With a lumbar epidural injection, we target one or more of these spinal nerve roots in your lower back to disrupt the pain signaling.

Another challenge is that many culprits behind lower back pain are degenerative and irreversible, such as facet joint arthritis and lumbar spinal stenosis. This circumstance means there’s no cure, but there are management strategies to keep you comfortable, like epidural injections.

Getting your lumbar epidural injections

Another great benefit of an epidural injection for lower back pain is that it’s quick and easy. When you come in, we make you comfortable, and then, using a live X-ray to guide us, we locate the area in the epidural space where your nerves are signaling. We then insert the needle and deliver the injection (we use local and topical anesthetics to ensure your comfort).

After we administer your lumbar epidural injection, you’re free to return home. We ask that you take it easy for a day or two, but in the week following your injection, you should realize gradual relief from your lower back pain.

If you’d like to determine whether a lumbar epidural injection is right for your lower back pain, we’re just a phone call or a click away. To get started, contact us today at one of our offices in Santa Clara or Redwood City, California.