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Disc Injury Pain Eased by Epidural Injections

An epidural injection is one of the many methods your doctor might use to help relieve the pain of your disc injury from a Bucks County car accident. The Bucks County personal injury lawyers at Saile & Saile LLP know that accidents can happen in the blink of an eye and leave you with a debilitating disc injury. Epidural injections can be used for things like a herniated or bulging disc, and spinal stenosis. The point of an epidural injection is to deliver an anti-inflammatory medicine, usually a steroid mixed with some kind of anesthetic. It is injected directly into the area surrounding the irritated portion of the spine. The steroid reduces inflammation while the anesthetic numbs the sensation of pain. Epidural injections can be prescribed to either diagnose a specific problem or treat a disc injury.

A herniated disc, by definition, is a protrusion of a fragmented vertebral disc that compresses on nerves of the spine. For a herniated disc, epidural injections cannot actually heal the injury. All it can do is relieve some of the pain, and even that is not permanent. If you are getting epidural injections for pain, your doctor might recommend that you not receive more than three injections a year. It has been shown that the effects decrease with each pain relief injection.

There are different types of medicine that are in an epidural injection. The corticosteroids are the medicine that acts as an anti-inflammatory, which also reduces swelling and the irritation of nerves to allow the damaged nerve time to heal. This will help prevent further discomfort.


Epidural injections are done as an outpatient procedure meaning that you are not put under general anesthesia. Instead, a local anesthesia will be used and is placed directly in the area that is about to receive the epidural injection. You could feel relief for as little as a few days, or as long as several months, but remember that epidural injections are not a permanent fix for your disc injury.

The benefits of an epidural injection for a disc injury can be temporary or long-term pain relief, temporary or long-term reduction of inflammation and better ability to function in everyday life.

Of course, just like any other medical procedure, there are risks to epidural injections as well. Risks such as a reaction to the injection (rash), infection at the injection site, and bleeding are the most common. There are more rare side effects such as temporary increase in pain and headaches.

If you have been in an auto accident and suffered a spinal disc injury, an epidural injection might be the best solution for you. If you need more information on accident injuries, visit the Saile & Saile LLP website or call us today.

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