When to Consider a Steroid Epidural for Your Chronic Back or Neck Pain

It’s no exaggeration to say that chronic back or neck pain can make you feel like a prisoner in your body. These spine conditions can push even the smallest endeavors out of reach, and your life has become so much smaller thanks to the pain.

You're certainly not alone in experiencing this — 65 million Americans report a recent episode of back pain and 16 million Americans are dealing with ongoing and debilitating back pain. The news isn’t much better when it comes to neck pain, which affects about 15% of adults in the United States.

One of the hardest working tools in the neck and back pain arsenal at Pain Medicine Consultants is the epidural steroid injection. In the following, our team explains how epidural injections work and who are good candidates for this approach to pain management.

Basics of an epidural steroid injection

As pain management specialists, we understand better than most that to manage pain effectively, it’s best to go straight to the source. This is the concept behind the epidural steroid injection.

Your epidural space is located in your spine. It surrounds your dura, which is a sac that encloses the nerve roots and contains cerebral spinal fluid, your spinal cord, and nerves. 

Much of your peripheral nervous system stems from 31 pairs of spine roots that exit your spine from your neck to your sacrum. These nerves travel through the epidural space, which is why we target the area. 

We’re able to directly target the nerve fibers that are firing pain signals and coat them with a steroid to reduce inflammation. In many cases, back and neck pain stem from nerve compression that leads to inflammation and pain.

Before we administer an epidural steroid injection, we use a local anesthetic to numb the area. Then, we insert a larger needle using fluoroscopy (live X-ray) and contrast dye to make sure the needle is in the correct position. Then, we release the steroid, remove the needle, and you're free to return home.

Good candidates for an epidural injection

An epidural steroid injection is designed to relieve nerve-related back and neck pain, which is common. The conditions that lead to nerve compression and pain include:

• Sciatica
• Herniated discs
• Degenerative disc disease
• Arthritis
• Spinal stenosis

Apart from sciatica, which only develops in your lower back, each of these conditions routinely develops in the lower back and neck, two areas of your spine that enjoy the most movement, which means they succumb to wear-and-tear more easily.

We often recommend epidural steroid injections as a way to relieve pain quickly so you can take more sustainable steps toward pain relief. 

For example, one of the best ways to combat degenerative pain in your neck or back is to strengthen the muscles in these areas, which is difficult when there's pain. An epidural steroid injection can buy you that time.

We also can't say how long you can enjoy pain relief from an epidural steroid injection. Many patients enjoy a few weeks to a few months of pain-free movement, while others realize an even longer respite from the pain. We wish we could be more specific, but it varies from patient to patient.

If you’re interested in exploring epidural steroid injections further, we’re here to help. To consult with one of our spine experts, please contact one of our offices in Pleasant Hill, Corte Madera, or Pleasanton, California, to schedule an appointment.