Auto accidents in Bucks County and Philadelphia often leave victims with lingering back pain due to a disc injury such as bulging discs, herniated discs or ruptured discs. These disc injuries may heal over time or may even require surgery in order for the victim to return to normal life. Until these spinal injuries are healed, though, they can be extremely painful. An epidural may be recommended by your doctor if your auto accident back pain is severe.
If you have sustained a disc injury in an auto accident in the Philadelphia area and your pain does not respond to more conventional methods (heat or ice, oral anti-inflammatory medication, massage therapy), your doctor may recommend an epidural steroid injection. Many Philadelphia residents have found relief from the following disc injury pain through epidural injections.
• Herniated Discs or Ruptured Discs: The small spongy discs which cushion each of your vertebrae may be damaged due to the trauma of a Bucks County auto accident. The herniated disc may then press on a nerve or multiple nerves in the spinal area. This is what causes severe pain. An epidural can relieve herniated disc and ruptured disc pain for a few months or up to one year.
• Bulging Discs: A bulging disc is one whose jelly-like inside has been forced to the edge or even outside of the disc’s interior. Like a herniated disc a bulging disc causes pain when it presses on surrounding nerves. If your back pain has not responded to conventional methods, your doctor may recommend an epidural steroid injection.
An epidural to relieve disc injury pain is performed by injecting a steroid along with a strong anti-inflammatory medication into the epidural space. This is an area very close to the spine and spinal cord which is home to many nerve roots. The medicine in an epidural relieves the extreme pain of disc injuries about 50% of the time and the relief can last for up to one year.
Several complications can result from an epidural steroid injection for auto accident disc injuries. The complications often result from errors in performing the epidural. Some complications include headaches, a drop in blood pressure, seizures, or, in rare cases, paraplegia and even death. It is important to consider the complications of an epidural steroid injection before choosing it as a method of pain relief.
If you have suffered an injury in a Philadelphia or Bucks County auto accident, contact the experienced personal injury lawyers at Cordisco & Saile LLC. Our Bucks County legal team can guide you through every aspect of your personal injury case, from the payment of medical bills to dealing with the other driver’s insurance company. For everything you need to know about a Pennsylvania auto accident, download a FREE copy of our PA Car Accident Book.
