Epidural Steroid Injection

Epidural steroid injections deliver powerful medication to the root of your back or neck pain. If other back pain treatments aren’t helping, visit James Ellner, MD, at Georgia Pain Management in Woodstock, Georgia. Dr. Ellner is a board-certified interventional pain management specialist who uses epidural steroid injections to treat persistent problems like sciatica. Call Georgia Pain Management to request more information or book an appointment online today.

What is an epidural steroid injection?

Epidural steroid injections are shots into the epidural space surrounding your spinal cord. The epidural space insulates and protects the spinal cord and the nerves in your spine from damage. 

Epidural steroid injections contain a corticosteroid drug that reduces inflammation. The injections often include a local anesthetic such as lidocaine to numb the area completely.

Steroid effects are usually long-lasting, while the local anesthetic offers total but short-lived pain relief.

What conditions benefit from epidural steroid injections?

An epidural steroid injection could potentially benefit any spinal nerve condition. Georgia Pain Management uses them for problems like:

• Herniated or bulging discs
• Degenerative disc disease
• Spinal stenosis (spinal canal narrowing)
• Arthritis
• Bone spurs
• Lumbar radiculopathy (sciatica)
• Cervical radiculopathy (nerve-related neck pain)

Patients with these conditions often benefit from conservative approaches such as physical therapy, activity modification, and anti-inflammatory medication. However, if your symptoms don’t improve, Dr. Ellner might suggest epidural steroid injections as the next step.

What epidural steroid injection might I need?

Georgia Pain Management offers several epidural steroid injections, including:

Caudal epidural steroid injection

This injection is a steroid-anesthetic mix that Dr. Ellner injects through an opening in your sacrum, a large, triangular bone at the bottom of your spine. The injection reduces swelling and inflammation in irritated spinal nerves.

Cervical epidural steroid injection

Cervical steroid injections relieve neck, arm, and shoulder pain from pinched nerves in the cervical spine (neck). The medication helps decrease nerve swelling and inflammation.

Lumbar epidural steroid injection

Lumbar (lower spine) epidural steroid injections relieve low back pain and leg pain radiating from the bottom of your spine.

Thoracic epidural steroid injection

Thoracic epidural steroid injections relieve upper back and rib pain.

What happens when I have an epidural steroid injection?

Dr. Ellner uses state-of-the-art fluoroscopy image guidance to administer epidural steroid injections. Fluoroscopy uses X-ray technology to produce moving images that Dr. Ellner views on a screen.

Using fluoroscopy to guide him, Dr. Ellner can inject your medication with precision and avoid damaging nearby nerves and tissues.

Epidural steroid injections are outpatient procedures that typically take just a few minutes. The results vary between patients, but many find they achieve extended relief from pain.

Call Georgia Pain Management to learn more about epidural steroid injections, or book an appointment online today.