What You Can Expect During and After Your Spine Injection
Nov 01, 2026
When we say that millions of Americans are struggling with back and neck pain, it’s no exaggeration. By the numbers, nearly 40% of adults in the United States report back pain, and 15% report neck pain.
When it comes to finding relief from spine-related neck and back pain, spinal injections are often a first and highly effective stop.
As specialists in painful spinal conditions, the team at SOAR Spine and Orthopedics has experience helping patients find relief through therapeutic spinal injections. Here’s how these treatments work.
We offer different types of spine injections, depending on your underlying problem. These injections include:
With epidural injections, we inject a steroid and a local anesthetic into the epidural space in your spinal canal, the area where nerves are overactive.
With facet joint injections, we inject the same combination of steroids and analgesics into the facet joints in the affected vertebrae.
If we determine that a spine injection is the best way to reduce back or neck pain, we move forward to schedule an in-office treatment.
When you come in, we first make you comfortable on the treatment table and position you for the injection, typically lying on your stomach for easier access to your spine. To ensure you are comfortable during the injection, we also apply a topical anesthetic.
To ensure our injections hit the target, we use live X-ray imaging (fluoroscopy) to guide the needle into position. Then we release the corticosteroid into the area.
After that, you’re free to go home once we've ensured everything went smoothly.
When you get home after your spine injection, take it easy for the rest of the day. Many patients experience a surge in pain relief thanks to the local anesthetic in the injection, but this wears off in a few hours.
The real results take a few days to appear as the steroid relieves inflammation.
During this time, you can return to your usual activities, though we recommend avoiding heavy lifting for the first week or two. We also recommend avoiding hot tubs and bathing for a couple of days to allow your injection sites to heal.
Moving forward, you can expect pain relief that may last several months or longer. If and when the injection starts to wear off and the pain returns, we can perform another spine injection to restore your relief.
During this pain-free period, we suggest engaging in physical therapy for longer-term relief from back or neck pain.
If you have more questions about spine injections or want to see whether they can bring relief, contact us at our Santa Clara or Redwood City, California, office today to schedule a consultation.