Sciatic nerve pain is a type of pain that starts in your lower back and shoots down toward your legs. The pain can be very severe, especially in the morning, and it can stop you from walking or sitting down. Sciatic nerve pain is typically caused when bone or an intervertebral disc press against one of the nerve roots in your lower spinal cord. The constant pressure causes the nerves to become irritated and painful.
If you suffer from sciatic nerve pain that's preventing you from performing normal daily activities, one of the treatments that can offer you relief is an epidural steroid injection. During this procedure, strong anti-inflammatory medication is injected directly next to the nerves that are causing you pain. To learn about how an epidural steroid injection can help relieve your sciatic nerve pain, read on.
How Does an Epidural Steroid Injection Help Reduce Sciatic Nerve Pain?
An epidural steroid injection delivers corticosteroids directly to the nerves that are causing your sciatic pain. Corticosteroids are powerful anti-inflammatory hormones that reduce the irritation that your spinal nerve roots experience from the constant pressure of a bone or an intervertebral disc making contact with them. Reducing the level of inflammation at your spinal nerve roots helps reduce the amount of sciatic nerve pain that you feel.
In order to deliver the corticosteroids as close to the inflamed nerve as possible, an epidural steroid injection is normally done using fluoroscopy. A doctor will look at your spine using X-ray imagery during the procedure to guide the needle's tip to the precise location of your inflamed nerve roots.
What Should You Do After Having an Epidural Steroid Injection?
Once you've had an epidural steroid injection, you'll typically be asked to undergo physical therapy. With your level of sciatic nerve pain reduced, you'll have an easier time performing your physical therapy exercises. Physical therapy is one of the best ways to combat sciatic nerve pain, as strengthening muscles and correcting your posture can take pressure off the nerve roots that keep becoming inflamed.
An epidural corticosteroid injection will wear off eventually as your body metabolizes the corticosteroids. You can go in for repeat injections while you continue physical therapy. A combination of physical therapy and periodic epidural steroid injections can often control your pain to the point where you're able to do all of your daily activities without worrying about your lower back pain. If physical therapy is unsuccessful, however, then you may consider surgery to remove the bone or the intervertebral disc that's pressing on your spinal nerve roots.
If you suffer from chronic sciatic nerve pain and are looking for relief, find a pain management clinic in your area that offers epidural steroid injections. Reducing the amount of inflammation in your spinal nerves will help you move without pain, allowing you to start up a physical therapy regimen that can help further reduce pain and increase mobility.
Share