Nowadays we all suffer from back pain because of our bad posture, unhealthy lifestyle. We are so busy in life that we cannot take proper care of what is right for us. Hence, we end up catching chronic back pain or other problems. But, now, medical science has found various treatments to ease our problems. You should try to maintain an active lifestyle as much as possible. You may also rely on over-the-counter medicines. Otherwise, you may have to take cortisone shots. It is also known as corticosteroid injections.
You may be suffering from chronic back pain and no medicines help you. In that case, the experts may recommend an epidural shot for back pain.
The Conservative Therapy
Generally, the Cortisone shots are not used to reduce ordinary backaches. The surgeons use the shots to shoot nerve pain due to a ruptured disc or spinal stenosis. If you experience nerve-related back pain, then you should first try to use conservative therapy. If the treatment is not effective, then you can try to take steroid shots. Remember that these steroid shots have several risk factors.
If you want to reduce pain, then you may take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including naproxen (Aleve), and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin). If the medicines do not work properly, then you should contact your doctor.
You should move your body as much as possible. You may take a little time to rest. It may help you to reduce the pain. But if you take bed rest for a longer period of time, then it may create problems.
Steroid injections carry different formulations of medications. A numbing drug that is almost similar to procaine (Novocain) is mixed with the anti-inflammatory drug cortisone. When the expert injects the medicine, the numbing effect can be reduced within a few hours. For this reason, you may experience may be temporary. You may notice the desired changes after a minimum of 24 to 48 hours.
If the cortisone shot works on you, then you may experience relief from the pain. But remember that the result is not guaranteed. Most back pain sufferers experience mild to average relief. The complete procedure is completely unpredictable.
Keep in mind that corticosteroid injections cannot help you to change your chronic back pain condition. After a few months, you may go back to the same condition. It only reduces the pain for a specific period of time.
You may suffer from a few side effects after taking the injection. The problem is not that common, but it may happen to you. You may get an infection, but it occurs less than 1% of the time. It is also a fact that they can injure a blood vessel or nerve.
If the expert injects you into the same target area, then it can break down the joint cartilage. To avoid the situation, the experts always recommend taking not more than four injections per year.
Call for Professionals
If you are a chronic back pain patient and cannot reduce pain, you may contact Oklahoma Spine & Pain Management for treatments such as trigger point injections. They provide various services, including pain management, integrative medicine, nutritional supplements, discogram, and diagnostic discography. The experts also can tell you details about epidural shots for back pain.
**Disclaimer: This content should not be considered medical advice and does not imply a doctor-patient relationship.
