if you're looking at this video you're
probably thinking about an epidural
steroid injection and interventional
spine procedure and it's very common to
have apprehension and anxiety when
thinking about this procedure but I'm
here to show you what's involved and to
allay any concerns or anxieties that you
might have you know I didn't know really
what to expect
I knew that my spine in needles wasn't a
great subject but really it really
wasn't a big deal actually the first
thing that happens is that the patient
will check into the Medical Center that
will involve a filling out of
registration forms insurance forms and
then they'll be escorted to a pre
procedure waiting area a nurse will come
and take your vital signs and review
your medications and may or may not ask
you to dress into a gown you'll sit
there for a few minutes
and one of the staff will come out and
go over the procedure with you explain
the procedure in detail and answer any
questions or address any concerns that
you might have most people ask how
painful the procedure might be we all
recognize that you're here for pain
management and pain control that's the
goal the procedure itself is
surprisingly well tolerated about
equivalent to a blood draw when it is
time for your procedure to occur you'll
be escorted into the procedure area
you'll be asked to lay down on your
belly on a table and the correct
injection site will be identified by the
staff the area will be exposed and
there'll be a few minutes taken to
adjust the x-ray machine over the body
at one point there'll be a brief timeout
where everyone in the room discusses the
patient the procedure what's going on
you the patient would be actively
involved in that process to verify that
we're doing the correct procedure on the
correct person after a few minutes the
medications are drawn disinfecting the
area with some surgical soap the
procedure itself involves using the
x-ray to guide us exactly to where we
need to be and then putting in some
cortisone and some numbing medicine in
the area and then performing the
procedure with a very very
thin spinal needle we're just finishing
up the needles out we've done with the
procedure so after the procedure
patients are escorted to the recovery
area where they're met by another nurse
and vital signs are taken and the nurse
just observes for any issues that may
come up there's a simple list of
common-sense things to think about after
the procedure
but for the most part patients don't
have too much to worry about and in
about five or ten minutes they're free
to go on with their day a cortisone shot
usually takes about five days before it
kicks in so don't make any changes in
your pain medications until you start
feeling the benefits it was very
relatively painless what I want to say
and I felt no pain and I am looking
forward to the results
I hope this instructional video help
demystify the steps involved in a spinal
procedure and I hope that it lessens any
anxiety that you might have if you're
thinking about this procedure
