Afraid of an Epidural for Back Pain?

An epidural for back pain relief cannot only be an unpleasant experience it can also provide the patient with some relief from their back pain. I have personally undergone fifteen of these procedures myself so please keep in mind this article is written from my experiences and what works for me may not work for you.

With this in mind, here we go.

I suffered a devastating injury to my lower spine (L4-5) and have since had 8 back surgeries, a spinal infection, 15 epidural for back pain along with many other treatments in my quest for pain relief.

First of all, let me say that an epidural injection can be uncomfortable at times. However, I never experienced any actual pain during or after one of these procedures. To me there is a big difference between being sore or uncomfortable than being in pain.

I have been sedated before undergoing an epidural and I've also been awake and alert for some. I prefer to be sedated but when I wasn't, it really was not too bad. No worse than having a root canal for me and the discomfort is over shortly after the procedure. Unlike the pain and discomfort some feel after having a root canal.

The actual procedure lasts only fifteen minutes to a half an hour. In fact you will probably spend more time in the waiting room than the procedure itself.

The relief I feel (especially for the pain in back of leg) has been instantaneous at times and at other times I did not feel relief for a day or so. The point is, I did get some relief. Again, this is just my experience.

So the question you have to ask yourself a question. Is a little more pain and discomfort worth the chance to finally get some pain relief that lasts? For me the answer was obvious.

The best advice I can offer you is to not fret over the procedure and go in with a positive attitude. A positive attitude is everything in my book. I also find it helps to calm my nerves as well!

In my experience, having an epidural for back pain relief was well worth the little discomfort I felt and I can only hope that if you decide to undergo an epidural that you experience the same positive results as I.

Now if I could only get rid of my stiff back.