This type of injection doesn’t always bring pain relief. (The steroid part, which lasts longer, should start to work in 2 to 5 days.) The amount of time your pain relief lasts is different for each person. The procedure can take as little as 15 minutes and the numbing part of the shot may start to work fairly quickly.

They will choose a location along your spine from the bottom of your neck to your tailbone that is closest to the nerve causing your pain.Ĭonditions that can be treated by an epidural injection include: Your doctor will use an X-ray with a special dye to insert the needle in the right spot. Some epidural injections are done with different medications, including steroids, to reduce pain and inflammation in your back, neck, arms, or legs. Rare complications include bleeding in the epidural space, nerve damage, and infection. Side effects include a drop in blood pressure, trouble urinating, and headache. For these reasons, doctors usually recommend the use of an epidural nerve block when a woman chooses to get anesthesia during childbirth. In fact, even though you will not feel pain in the lower portion of your body, you may still be able to walk around with some help. So you’re still able to feel touch and pressure. You’d get a nerve block through a small, flexible tube, called a catheter, that goes near your spine at the small of your back and delivers the medicine nonstop, so you feel no pain during your surgery.Īn epidural targets the nerves that carry pain signals. It usually begins to work in only 10 to 20 minutes. It’s a type of anesthesia that doctors may give you during surgery to numb your spinal nerves and prevent pain signals from traveling to your brain. This one of the most common uses of an epidural. Epidurals may even give you longer-lasting pain relief while helping you stay more alert and mobile.

But if it’s an option, it requires a lower dose of medicine and as a result has fewer side effects. This procedure isn’t right for every case. Doctors use epidural injections to relieve pain during and after surgery, as well as managing chronic pain. It’s an injection that goes into your “epidural space,” which is right outside of the membrane that protects your spinal cord. You may have heard of the epidural - the pain-relieving shot that some pregnant women get when they’re giving birth.

Epidural after effects