{"id":70,"date":"2014-06-24T19:18:08","date_gmt":"2014-06-24T19:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/?p=70"},"modified":"2014-06-24T19:22:58","modified_gmt":"2014-06-24T19:22:58","slug":"when-do-epidural-injections-make-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/when-do-epidural-injections-make-sense\/","title":{"rendered":"When Do Epidural Injections Make Sense?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lapaindoctor.com\/default.aspx\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/iStock_000008894314Small-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"epidural injections for back pain\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-87\" \/><\/a>Whether you\u2019re a man or a woman, chances are you\u2019ve heard the word \u201cepidural\u201d, and chances are you even have some idea of what it is. Epidural anesthesia is the most popular method of pain relief prescribed to women in labor. In fact, more women request epidural relief than any other method for their pain. Statistically, 50+% of women giving birth at hospitals use epidural anesthesia. <strong>Epidural injections<\/strong> are popular choices for women giving birth, but they are also used as an effective treatment tool for <a href=\"http:\/\/lapaindoctor.com\/lower-back-pain.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">back pain<\/a> and other extreme pain in the lower body.<\/p>\n<p><strong>When do epidural injections make sense?<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u2022 When other medications and treatments are not responding to your pain. Other treatments include physical therapy, prescription medication, spinal manipulation, massages, and acupuncture.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 If you\u2019re considering back surgery to fix your pain, then an epidural steroid injection could serve as a viable alternative as it is a less invasive approach over surgical procedures.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Your pain is so severe that everyday functions, such as eating and drinking, cannot be achieved.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Certain back problems that inevitably cause heavy pain <em>(i.e. herniated discs)<\/em> respond very well to an epidural injections.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>However, there are certain side effects that are associated with epidural injections that should be taken into consideration:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n\u2022 Epidural injections can result in a sudden drop in blood pressure, resulting in a necessity to be treated with IV fluids, medications, and oxygen.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 You may experience a severe headache caused by leakage of spinal fluid. The remedy to this side effect is called a blood patch, which would be injected into the epidural space, relieving the headache.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Other side effects are: shivering, ringing of the ears, backache, soreness where the needle is inserted, nausea, or difficulty urinating.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 In very rare instances, permanent nerve damage may result in the area where the epidural injection was inserted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lapaindoctor.com\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/iStock_000002620394Small-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"epidural injections\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-97\" \/><\/a>You should be aware of instances in which an epidural will not be administered for pain relief, according to The American Academy of Family Physicians:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 If you are using any type of blood thinner<br \/>\n\u2022 If you have a low platelet count<br \/>\n\u2022 If you are experiencing hemorrhaging or shock<br \/>\n\u2022 Presence of back infection<br \/>\n\u2022 Presence of blood infection<br \/>\n\u2022 If an epidural space can not be located<\/p>\n<p>Your <a href=\"http:\/\/lapaindoctor.com\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">spine doctor in Los Angeles<\/a> can help you find relief from chronic pain that continues to affect your quality of life.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you\u2019re a man or a woman, chances are you\u2019ve heard the word \u201cepidural\u201d, and chances are you even have some idea of what it is. Epidural anesthesia is the most popular method of pain relief prescribed to women in labor. In fact, more women request epidural relief than any other method for their pain. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[15,17,18,16],"class_list":["post-70","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-los-angeles-pain-doctor","tag-epidural-injection-back-pain","tag-epidural-injections","tag-spine-doctor-los-angeles","tag-when-does-an-epidural-injection-make-sense"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99,"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70\/revisions\/99"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lapaindoctor.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}