Epidural where is it given

The way you experience pain depends on your emotional, psychological, social, motivational and cultural circumstances. Every woman responds and copes differently with the pain of labour and childbirth. Almost all women experience pain during childbirth which varies in severity. There are different pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to treatment of pain during childbirth.

Read more on HealthEngine website. Learn what options are available to you to relieve pain during labour pain, and how your birth support partner can help you. How does an epidural work? With an epidural, a small plastic tube is inserted between the bones of your spine, into the space around your spinal cord. A combination of drugs is given through the tube. A local anaesthetic blocks nerves in the spinal cord that transmit pain signals and an opiate provides further pain relief.

Read more on Australian Breastfeeding Association website. Being abdominal surgery, pain in the early months is very common after a caesarean section C-section and needs to be managed with rest, pain relief, and. Read more on Australasian Birth Trauma Association website. Induced labour is a medical treatment to start labour. It may be recommended if your baby needs to be born before labour is due to start naturally.

Learn more about labour complications. An assisted delivery, sometimes called an 'instrumental delivery', is when your doctor will help in the birthing process. A retained placenta is when part or all of the placenta is not delivered after the baby is born. It can lead to serious infection or blood loss.

Epidurals are usually safe, but there's a small risk of side effects and complications, including:. Read more about the side effects and complications of an epidural.

Page last reviewed: 11 March Next review due: 11 March Overview - Epidural Contents Overview Side effects. An epidural is an injection in your back to stop you feeling pain in part of your body. When epidurals are used Epidurals can be used: during labour and childbirth , including caesareans during some types of surgery after some types of surgery Steroid medicine can also be given with an epidural injection, to treat pain in your back or leg that's caused by sciatica or a slipped prolapsed disc.

Preparing for an epidural If you have any concerns or questions about having an epidural, discuss these with your doctor. You may be given specific advice about eating, drinking and medicines before the epidural.

How an epidural is given Epidurals are given by a specialist doctor called an anaesthetist. Ice packs are usually used for 15 to 20 minutes at a time with a break of at least two hours in between to avoid skin injury. Hot baths, sauna, and swimming are usually not recommended for 2 to 3 days after the injection to avoid the risk of infection. The epidural injection procedure is usually painless, but light soreness or discomfort may occur in some patients over the next day or two.

With adequate precautionary measures and post-injection care of the treatment site, patients can typically resume all their daily activities within a week of the injection. Injections for Neck and Back Pain Relief. Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection Video. You are here Treatment Injections.

Epidural Injection Procedure share pin it Newsletters. By Richard Staehler, MD. Peer Reviewed. Video: Epidural Steroid Injections for Back Pain and Leg Pain A lumbar epidural steroid injection delivers steroid medication directly around the area that may be causing pain. See pictures of epidural placement and area of numbness for childbirth. An anesthetic medicine is injected into the catheter to numb your body above and below the point of injection, as needed. The amount of discomfort or pain that you have depends on the amount of anesthetic used.

Less anesthetic often called a light epidural will allow you to be more active in your labour and feel enough to push effectively. With higher levels of anesthetic, you will feel little or no pain from your contractions.

You may be required to remain in bed when an epidural is used. You will also have a tube placed in a vein intravenous, or IV tube and a fetal monitor. Before delivery, the epidural medicine dose can be decreased so that you can push more effectively while remaining relatively comfortable. The epidural catheter can also be used to numb the area between the vagina and anus perineum just before delivery.

Because the amount of medicine given at one time is small, epidural anesthesia wears off during labour unless additional medicine is given. So the use of epidural infusion pumps is common. With an infusion pump, the epidural medicine is given continuously in small amounts so that you don't have to worry that the pain relief will wear off during your delivery.