Epidural

What Is An Epidural?

An Epidural is an injection of a low-dose Cortisone into the the spine. This is most commonly prescribed for pain that radiates or travels down the arm or leg. Many people experience radiating pain with either low back pain or neck pain. All pain is transmitted along nerves that travel from the tips of your toes and fingers back to the spinal cord and up to your brain. When you experience radiating pain, it can often mean that there is inflammation along the nerve root where it leaves the spinal cord. An epidural is a procedure designed to target inflammation along those nerve roots. This can quickly decrease your pain and allow us to create a rehab window where we can rehab the spine and supporting musculature. This is necessary to help treat the underlying cause of the inflammation so that the pain does not come back.

When to consider a Epidural?

Epidurals are a wonderful tool to combat radiating pain but they are not always the best option. Speaking with our pain specialist is the best way to know which option is best for your situation. However, two situations where epidurals are commonly used in our multi-specialty pain practice are:

1. Hot low back: A “hot low back” is a common term used to describe someone in a lot of low back pain -- to the point where the pain limits almost all activity. An epidural is a great tool here because it would be almost impossible to do some of the important spinal rehab and physical therapy needed to fix the issue when someone is experiencing that level of pain.
2. Non-progressing pain relief (usually disc-related): Our team relies on many great, conservative tools to treat a variety of pain-related conditions. We create a customized pain treatment plan for every patient, which is designed to maximize their progress toward a pain-free recovery. However, sometimes patients begin to progress and then stall in their progression. There are many factors that can cause this. If a patient is not progressing as we expect, then an epidural can oftentimes help them get back into a rehab window and continue their progress towards functional wellness. It is important to not only get you out of pain but to get you healthy and active.

What Other Options Are There?

When you visit Arizona Pain Relief, we work with you to understand your condition and your goals. We then create a customized treatment plan to help you hit those goals quickly and permanently. This plan will always include conservative care options. Our goal is to not only get you out of pain as quickly as possible, but also to keep you out of pain as long as possible. Without physical therapy, chiropractic and conservative medical care, it is impossible for you to treat the underlying cause of most conditions. If you have specific treatments that you would like to explore or discuss, please mention them to your healthcare provider when you visit us. We are here to help you hit your goals.