What is the difference between a facet block and an epidural injection for back pain relief?
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1. Epidural anesthesia is just a numbing agent to help deal with the pain. Facet block is trying to find the facet joint capsule that could be the cause of the pain and reduce inflammation via injecting steroids (usually) and/or administering pain medication.Check out the sources.
2. I have had a series of three of the epidural blocks for bulging disc. The pain clinic explained to me that there are several medications being placed in the spinal canal area. One of them is a steroid for inflammation and the other a numbing agent. It did help me for 2-4 weeks after the procedure and each one after the other helped more than the first. The only thing is that they do not like to do more than three in a six month time frame because of the steroids and the effects it has on your body.
As for the facet I haven't had that done sorry.
Hope this helps.
