What is an epidural steroid injection? An epidural injection for pain management is a procedure where a long-lasting steroid is administered into the epidural space. The epidural space is the area around the spinal cord, or to be an atomically exact it’s the area around the remnant of the spinal cord where nerve roots come off at every level. Here are the answers to patient questions regarding epidural steroid injections for pain management.

What exactly is a facet injection? A facet injection for pain management is a procedure where steroid medication is injected into the small little joints along the spinal column that are causing patient’s discomfort. A facet joint is about the size of a thumbnail and there is one on each side of the spinal column at every level of the spine.

The incidence of pain in the United States is at an all-time high these days. Over 110 million Americans are currently dealing with chronic pain, which is one third of the population. A significant amount of these individuals on a yearly basis would normally qualify for some type of surgery to relieve the pain. Due to the current economy, many patients are opting to delay their elective surgeries and instead opting for non-operative pain management options.

Once a patient has a thoracotomy procedure, pain from the incision may persist despite having a successful procedure. Thoracotomy procedures have numerous indications, including lung resection or spine surgery just to mention a couple. Unfortunately even if the procedure was exceptionally successful, the patient may end up with residual pain despite having had a successful resection or spine surgery. One treatment that may hold some promise is spinal cord stimulation. A spinal cord stimulator is an excellent last resort for patients who have failed other treatments for their back pain and are no longer candidates for spinal surgery.

A recent study performed by the American Pain Foundation which showed that 17% of chronic pain adults have significant difficulty reaching their primary care doctors for assistance. The same survey showed that 43% of chronic pain patients leave their doctors offices with unanswered questions about their treatment. There was also a recent study which showed that 44% of patients in the United States are being undertreated for their pain.