Epidural Injections

Epidural injections are one of the most widely used treatments offered for a variety of back pain conditions. Injection therapy is often prescribed when more conservative therapies fail and before spinal surgery is considered as a final option. There are different types of injection therapies all designed to accomplish specific individual goals. It is important to discuss the risks and benefits of each type of injection therapy with your doctor prior to commencing treatment.

Types of Epidural Injections

There are varying substances and usages in all spinal injection therapies. Some of the most common back pain injections are:

* Prolotherapy. In this therapy, irritating substances are injected in order to enact an organic healing response from the body. This is a controversial treatment, but has shown positive results for treating certain types of back pain conditions.

* Anesthetic Injections are also called nerve blocks. These injections consist of long life anesthetics which can deaden pain in a given area of the back. These injections are very effective for some types of pain, but do have some drawbacks. First, they are symptomatic treatment and must be renewed indefinitely in order to maintain effectiveness. Second, these shots are often used in the diagnosis of certain pain syndromes. While they do numb pain caused by many anatomical conditions, they can also create the perfect circumstances for the misdiagnosis of physical or psychosomatic back pain. Be warned that diagnosis using anesthetic injections is not an accurate science.

* Individual drugs and substances are also used for specific spinal conditions. The most common are injections used to either lubricate problematic spinal joints or the injections used to dissolve irritating proteins leaking from herniated intervertebral discs.

Epidural Injection Procedure

A good doctor will always administer an epidural while viewing the procedure under fluoroscopy (live x-ray). This way, there is far less chance for error in locating the correct injection site. This also minimizes the chances of a potentially dangerous complication from puncturing the spinal thecal sac or hitting a nerve directly. The needle used will usually be long and ultra thin for comfort. The injection will be administered into the correct anatomical location corresponding to the pain complaint and the contents of the syringe will be carefully injected into the appropriate treatment zone. The entrance wound will not require any special care, but might be sore for up to 24 hours. The patient can return home from this outpatient procedure immediately.

Recommendation on Epidural Injections

Many patients have reported good results from using injection therapy for their back ache complaints. Remember that this therapy is NOT a cure and must be repeated over and over to provide lasting relief. Some of the drugs used may have severe immediate or long term side effects, so it is not advised to continue this treatment any longer than absolutely necessary. However, when compared to the risks of surgery, epidural injection therapy still gets my approval for the temporary relief of physically induced back pain conditions. When combined with knowledge therapy methods, the patient will have a far greater chance of finding a true and permanent cure for their pain. It is always best to have all the bases covered, just to be sure�

Epidural Injections to Back Pain Home 1/18/08 Revised 5/31/08