Is a cervical epidural injection painful?
Once the needle is properly positioned, your doctor will inject a cortisone steroid solution into the epidural space to bathe the inflamed nerve root(s). Some people may notice tenderness at the injection site for a few hours after the procedure.
What happens during a cervical epidural injection?
During your cervical epidural injection, your doctor injected medicine into the area around the spinal cord in your neck. This is to help with pain, tingling, or numbness in your neck or down your arm. The steroid medicine in the injection should start to help your pain in 1 to 5 days. Steroids don’t always work.
How is a cervical spine epidural done?
With a cervical epidural injection, the procedure is performed with the patient laying face down. An area of skin and tissue above the injection site is injected with a local anesthetic to numb the area. Next, a larger needle is inserted.
What should I do after cervical epidural?
Avoid heat to the injection area for 72 hours. No hot packs, saunas, or steam rooms during this time. A regular shower is OK. You may immediately restart your regular medication regimen, including pain medications, anti-inflammatory, and blood thinners.
What are the side effects of a cervical epidural?
What are the risks of an epidural steroid injection?
- “Steroid flush,” or flushing of the face and chest, with warmth and an increase in temperature for several days.
- Sleeping problems.
- Anxiety.
- Menstrual changes.
- Water retention.
- In rare instances, pain that actually increases for several days after the procedure.
Do they sedate you for an epidural steroid injection?
The injection is performed under local anesthesia and, on occasion, with intravenous sedation. Patients are not deeply sedated or completely asleep for this procedure because it is unnecessary and unsafe to do so.
What do you need to know about cervical epidural injections?
Video Transcript. A cervical epidural steroid injection may be performed to relieve pain associated with inflammation around the nerves in the neck. The epidural space surrounds the dura. The dura is the sac around the nerve roots that contains cerebrospinal fluid and spinal cord and nerves.
How are steroid injections used to treat cervical pain?
An epidural steroid injection delivers steroids directly to the painful area. Cervical epidural steroid injections are intended to treat pain provoked by conditions that cause inflammation to one or more cervical nerve roots.
What causes pain in the dura of the cervical spine?
An epidural space surrounds the dura, and the nerves in your cervical spine (pictured above) travel through this space before traveling down the shoulders and into your arms and hands. When your cervical nerves are pinched or irritated, you may feel pain along any one of your nerve paths. This pain is referred to as cervical radiculopathy.
Where does the epidural space surround the dura?
The epidural space surrounds the dura. The dura is the sac around the nerve roots that contains cerebrospinal fluid and spinal cord and nerves. The nerves in the neck travel through the cervical epidural space before extending down through the shoulders and into the arms and hands.