Steroid Injection

 

You have received an injection of steroids, usually combined with a local anesthetic solution, into a specific area of your back called the "epidural space". It could have been placed in the low back, mid-back or neck. The epidural space surrounds the spinal sac and therefore is in close proximity to the nerves as they exit the spinal sac and travel to various parts of the body. The epidural space also is adjacent to many other important structures in the spinal canal such as the "disc”, the facet joints and others. Inflammation in one of these structures may be the cause of your pain. "Steroids" decrease inflammation over a period of days to perhaps a week.

These are NOT the kind of steroids that you've heard athletes take to gain muscle and size. But, they can have certain side effects that some sensitive people experience.

These are some of the things you may experience after your steroid injection:

  1. Increased pain over the next 24 hours is usually due to the needle used in the injection and should be treated with an ice pack over the area for 15-20 minutes and periodic Tylenol.
  2. A brief numbness in one or both legs or arms or perhaps along the skin of the torso, depending on where the injection was made. This usually does not last.
  3. Changes in mood: happiness, sadness or irritability.
  4. A feeling of being jittery or anxious, perhaps leading to insomnia for the first night.
  5. A feeling of being "flushed", red-faced or even having a low-grade fever. If you think you have a fever, take your temperature. If it is greater than 101 degrees, take Tylenol or aspirin. If the temperature does not come down, call the office (502-PAIN).
  6. Injected steroids can temporarily inhabit your body from making its own steroids. While this is not usually a problem, if you were to have surgery within 3 weeks of a steroid injection, you should tell your anesthesiologist. He may want to give you a little extra steroid in your IV.
  7. If you are a diabetic, you should follow your blood sugars carefully for a few days as steroids can make your blood sugar rise.