Relieve Chronic Pain with Orange County Pain Clinics.
At Orange County Pain Clinics, we work hard to provide a wide range of treatment options for every type of pain. Our staff recognizes that not every individual and not every type of pain will respond to the same treatments, so a number of minimally invasive options are important.
Among our treatments for back pain are epidural back injections, a way to provide quick pain relief for patients. To find out if you could benefit from an epidural back injection in Mission Viejo, contact our office today.
Which conditions can be helped with an epidural back injection?
Epidural injections are often utilized if you have not responded to other treatment methods, like physical therapy. The injections can be helpful if you are experiencing pain that radiates from your lower back to your hips or down one or both of your legs. This type of pain is often caused by a bulging disc. Epidural injections can also be used to relieve pain from spinal stenosis, which is characterized by narrowing of the lower spine, and radiculopathy, which is damage or inflammation to a nerve in the lower back.
How does an epidural back injection work?
If you have questions about an epidural back injection in Mission Viejo, it is a good idea to contact your doctor at Orange County Pain Clinics for more information. Your doctor will be able to explain exactly how the injection will help your pain and discomfort specifically. However, in general, epidural injections are very simple. They deliver anti-inflammatory medication to the area located outside the sac of fluid surrounding your spinal cord. This area is also referred to as the epidural space. When pain medication is injected here, it results in very quick pain relief for conditions that cause lower back pain.
What can I expect from an injection?
You might be wondering what an epidural back injection in Mission Viejo is like before deciding to give it a try for your back pain. Fortunately, the injection process does not take long, although there are several important steps. First, you will lie face down on one of our tables, where your skin will be cleaned and then injected with anesthetic to numb the area.
Next, your pain doctor will insert a needle into your skin and point it towards your spine. Using a machine that utilizes fluoroscopy, a type of live x-ray video, your doctor will be able to move the needle to the epidural space where it needs to be. With the use of contrast dye, your doctor will confirm that the needle is in the right area. Then, the corticosteroid medication will be injected into the epidural space and begin working right away. Although the anesthetic will help you minimize any discomfort during the injection itself, you are likely to be tender at the injection site for the next few days.
What is a consultation like?
If you think that an epidural back injection in Mission Viejo will help your lower back pain, the first step in the process will be a consultation with your doctor at Orange County Pain Clinics. During this visit, your doctor will ask you a lot of questions about the pain you are experiencing. He will need to know when you first noticed the pain, if there are any movements or activities that make it feel better or worse, the severity and type of pain, and more. He will also likely perform a physical examination. In some cases, further diagnostic testing, like x-rays, can be helpful in forming a full picture of your pain and condition. Once your doctor has all of the information he needs, he will be able to determine if an epidural back injection is the best option for you.
If you have any questions about epidural back injections in Mission Viejo and what the process entails, please feel free to contact our office at any time. One of our chronic pain specialists will be happy to help you and answer all of your concerns. Keep in mind that our pain center also provides a number of other pain relief treatments, such as additional types of injections, cryoanalgesia, medication pumps, minimally invasive surgical procedures, manipulation under anesthesia, and more. At Orange County Pain Clinics, our goal is to reduce your pain and improve your overall quality of life without subjecting you to extreme methods of pain relief that are ineffective and carry high rates of side effects.
