How Fast Will a Patient Feel Relief From a Spinal Injection?

spinal stenosis

If you've ever felt back, shoulder, neck or arm pain, you know the nagging sensations that can cause you to alter your life. These days, trained pain specialists are able to pinpoint the source of your pain with target precision using technologies that find the cause of the problem so it can be treated effectively.

Don't Guess At The Source of Your Pain

The problem with many doctors these days is that they don't try to find the source of the problem. Instead, they spend their time guessing at the cause of the pain. Once they think they have the cause, they will start treating the symptoms. The last thing you want to do is to be on pain medication for the rest of your life, never really knowing what's causing you so much agony.

Two Kinds of Spinal Injections

One of the treatments available for people who have pain originating from the spine is a spinal injection. There are really two different kinds of spinal injections: diagnostic and treatment.

For instance, a sacroiliac joint injection is a diagnostic test where the doctor fills the joint with anesthetic medication to see if the pain will go away for several hours. This allows the pain specialist to know which structure is causing the pain so that they can start to explore the options for treatment.

A good example of a spinal injection used for treatment is an epidural steroid injection, typically used for lumbar pain. It's a minimally invasive treatment option which helps people who have neck, back, arm and leg pain caused by an inflamed spinal nerves.

An epidural may be used if a person has spinal stenosis or disk herniation. The medications are dispensed into the spinal nerve through the epidural space which is the area between the protective covering of the spinal cord and the vertebrae. The effects of an epidural are typically brief, such as when they are used during childbirth. The idea is to reduce the pain enough so that you can get back to your normal daily activities and start physical therapy program.

An epidural steroid injection is a mixture of a long acting corticosteroid and an anesthetic numbing agent. The corticosteroid will reduce inflammation and will last from a few days to a few years. This basically buys you time so that you can begin a physical therapy program or start exercising.

Patients usually report improvement after a spinal injection within the first day or so. The medicine is fast acting so patients will respond quickly. Sometimes, it can take a few days for pain relief to completely happen since there may be some soreness at the injection site.