If you have a back pain or neck pain, you’re most likely to have an injection with a combination of local anesthetic and steroid medication. The injections may go into the epidural space surrounding your spinal cord or into a specific part of your spine, such as the facet joints.
Steroids are potent anti-inflammatory drugs that tackle persistent and severe inflammation. They may keep working for many months, reducing pain and helping you follow a rehabilitation program.
Local anesthetic offers a fast but short-lived resolution to pain by numbing the affected area. The pain does return when the drug wears off, but many patients find that the longer-term quality or degree of pain they feel changes for the better following an injection.
These injections are also effective treatments for problems like joint pain from arthritis.
