You can expect to experience a pinched or compressed nerve, pain emanating from your spine, spinal disc herniation, or spinal narrowing. For instance, spinal narrowing or stenosis is a condition marked by the space inside your backbone becoming too small, which exerts pressure on your spinal cord and nerves. If you have any of those conditions, your doctor may recommend an epidural injection New Brunswick. The potent anti-inflammatory medications your doctor introduces into your epidural space work by finding the underlying cause of your back or chronic pain. An injection reduces the creation of inflammatory chemicals and the sensitivity of nerves to pain. As a result, you benefit from pain relief.
Subsequently, below is what you can expect before, during, and after epidural injections for alleviating pain and swelling in your neck, lower back, legs, or arms.
Before an epidural injection
Your health specialist may not recommend the treatment if you have chronic medical conditions such as diabetes and hemophilia. Hemophilia is a rare blood disorder that involves the blood not clotting the way it should since it does not have sufficient blood-clotting proteins.
You may also not be a good candidate for the treatment if you are allergic to anesthesia medications, have an infection, or are using certain drugs.
Expect your doctor to discuss the procedure with you, and you can seize that moment to ask any questions of concern.
During an epidural injection
Your doctor will rely on X-ray imaging displayed on the screen to identify the right area for performing epidural injections. The location must be the nearest to the problematic nerve causing discomfort.
Once your doctor sterilizes and numbs your skin area, a contrast dye may come in handy for ensuring that the medication reaches the intended site.
After that, your doctor injects steroid medicine close to the area causing your pain. During the injection, you should keep still since the treatment has to happen precisely.
The procedure often happens for about half an hour. However, your doctor may require more time.
After injections
After injecting your epidural space, your doctor will request that you rest as the staff monitors you for about 30 minutes before allowing you to go home. Depending on your treatment area, expect your arms or legs to become numb and heavy. The numbness affecting your body part should last only a few hours.
Once you return home, you can immediately resume your regular activities or wait for a day or two. Within a few days, expect improvements from your epidural injections. The medication works by decreasing the pressure on the painful spinal nerves, which reduces inflammation and discomfort.
The benefits of epidural injections for alleviating back pain can last for months. To sustain your improvements, you may need to go for treatment regularly as your doctor recommends.
Keep in touch with your health provider to quickly deal with potentially arising complications. Although complications and side effects are rare, you may experience an allergic reaction to the medication, flushed skin, bleeding, headache, or infection.
Contact Pain & Anesthesia Care today to learn if you are a good candidate for epidural injections.
