Neck and back pain, with or without pain traveling down your arm or leg, are among the top causes of disability in adults. When irritated and inflamed nerves cause pain, it’s time to learn how an epidural steroid injection at Pain Consultants of Atlanta can help. In their skilled hands, an epidural steroid injection targets the precise nerves responsible for the pain signals and stops them in their tracks. Request an appointment online or call the nearest office to determine if you're a good candidate. The team has four offices located in Atlanta, Fayetteville, Stockbridge and Newnan, Georgia.
An epidural steroid injection delivers two medications, steroids, and a local anesthetic, into an area of your spine called the epidural space.
The epidural space, located between the spinal cord and the vertebrae, contains the spinal nerve roots. Medications injected into this space are highly effective because they flow around the nerve root.
The anesthetic stops pain messages traveling through the nerve root. This provides quick pain relief, but it doesn’t last long.
The steroid medication reduces nerve inflammation. Steroids take longer to work, but most patients experience significant pain relief once the inflammation goes down.
You may need an epidural steroid injection if you have neck, back, arm, or leg pain caused by inflamed spinal nerves. The inflammation could be due to a traumatic or overuse injury or a spine condition, such as:
Injured and inflamed spinal nerves often cause pain and tingling that travel down your arms or legs.
Most people are understandably nervous about receiving a spine injection, but you can be confident in the skill of your Pain Consultants of Atlanta provider. They have safely performed countless epidural steroid injections and ensure your comfort with a topical anesthetic at the injection site.
Your provider also uses fluoroscopy, a special type of X-ray that provides real-time imaging. They use the imaging to see your spine and precisely guide the injection into the epidural space at the inflamed nerve root.
After inserting the slim needle, they first inject a dye and watch the images to be sure the dye flows around the targeted nerve. Then they inject the medications.
The steroids take effect within a week, but there’s no way to predict your results because each person responds differently. Some people get minimal results or pain improvement that only lasts a short time. Others experience significant pain relief lasting several months or longer.
Don’t keep struggling with neck, back, arm, or leg pain. Call Pain Consultants of Atlanta or use online booking today to schedule a consultation and start on the road to pain relief.