Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection
A lumbar epidural steroid injection (LESI) is one of the most widely performed non-surgical treatments for lower back and leg pain. By delivering corticosteroid medication directly into the epidural space - the area surrounding the spinal nerves in the lower back - the injection reduces nerve root inflammation and provides targeted pain relief that oral medication cannot match.
At SPIN (Sports Pain Management NYC), lumbar epidural steroid injections are performed by board-certified pain management specialists under fluoroscopic (real-time X-ray) guidance. The procedure takes less than 30 minutes, requires no general anesthesia, and most patients return to normal light activity the following day.
Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection NYC — SPIN Sports Pain Specialists
Ready to get relief from lower back and leg pain?
Same-day appointments available for lumbar epidural steroid injection evaluation and treatment.
Pain after Lumbar Epidural Cortisone Steroid Injection Shot
Since the pain associated with an injection shot is so minor and passes within a couple of hours, it's an ideal modality to relieve chronic and acute pain. With this effective pain treatment, you can better tolerate other remedies and rehabilitation plans your doctor recommends.
Long-term solutions for your lower back pain may include:
- Rest
- Activity modification
- Directed stretching and strengthening exercises
- Physical therapy
- Low-impact aerobics
- Ice and heat
- Over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications and pain relievers
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
Lumbar Epidural Cortisone Injection
The dura mater is the soft tissue surrounding your spinal cord, and the phrase is the root of the word "epidural", which is a nerve block injection designed to stop the pain you're feeling in your lower body. In addition to a lumbar epidural, you might receive a cervical epidural to target neck pain or a thoracic epidural targeting moderate back pain.
While there are many reasons you may need a lumbar epidural cortisone injection shot, the most common ones seen by your doctor include:
- Compression fractures
- Herniated disc
- Painful spinal cysts
- Spinal stenosis
- Degenerative disc disease
Cortisone Shot Potential Risks and Side Effects
Under the guidance of an experienced pain and sports medicine doctor, side effects from an epidural cortisone shot are minimized. But as with any procedure, they can happen. Some risks associated with the lumbar epidural cortisone shot include:
Bleeding
Infection
Anxiety
Temporary blood sugar spikes
Stomach ulcers
Facial flushing
A dural puncture, also called a wet tap, leads to a headache that typically dissipates within a day or two
Temporary low immunity due to the immune-suppressing nature of steroids
Extremely rare nerve damage
Following Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection Recovery
You can usually return to your normal activities the day after the procedure. You may have some pain after a lumbar epidural cortisone steroid injection procedure that lasts longer than a day, but that's also temporary. Your Manhattan pain management doctor may provide you with a prescription pain reliever to get you through the first couple of days.
Ready to find relief from lower back and leg pain?
Dr. Melepura's Midtown Manhattan clinic offers same-day appointments for lumbar epidural steroid injection evaluation and treatment.
Conditions Treated With a Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection
A lumbar ESI is most effective when nerve root inflammation is a significant component of the pain - rather than purely mechanical or structural causes. The conditions most commonly treated include:
Lumbar disc herniation
When a disc in the lower back bulges or ruptures and presses against a nerve root, it causes radicular pain (shooting pain down the leg, commonly called sciatica). A lumbar ESI delivers anti-inflammatory medication directly to the compressed nerve root, reducing swelling and often resolving the radiating pain even when the herniation itself remains.
Lumbar spinal stenosis
Stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal canal in the lower back, which compresses the nerve roots running through it. The characteristic symptom is neurogenic claudication - pain or heaviness in the legs when walking that improves with sitting. Lumbar ESI reduces the inflammatory component of stenosis pain and can significantly improve walking tolerance, particularly in patients who are not surgical candidates.
Lumbar radiculopathy
Lumbar radiculopathy is the clinical term for a pinched nerve root in the lower back. It causes pain, numbness, or tingling that radiates from the lower back into the buttock, leg, or foot along a specific nerve distribution. The L4-L5 and L5-S1 levels are the most commonly affected, causing symptoms in the outer thigh, calf, or foot.
Degenerative disc disease with radiculopathy
As discs lose height and hydration over time, the surrounding structures can compress nerve roots. When this compression causes significant leg or buttock pain, a lumbar ESI targets the specific level generating symptoms.
Failed back surgery syndrome
Patients who continue to experience leg or back pain after lumbar spine surgery may benefit from ESI to address ongoing nerve inflammation that the surgery did not resolve.
Post-herpetic neuralgia (shingles-related spinal pain)
When the varicella-zoster virus affects a lumbar nerve root, the resulting pain can be treated with epidural steroid injection to reduce nerve inflammation.
Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection in NYC
SPIN's NYC pain management specialists perform lumbar epidural steroid injections in our fully equipped procedure suite. All injections use fluoroscopic (X-ray) guidance to confirm the needle position before medication is delivered - a standard of care that improves both safety and accuracy.
Before recommending a lumbar ESI, our specialists review your MRI findings, clinical examination, and symptom history to confirm that nerve root inflammation is the appropriate treatment target. If you arrive without recent imaging, we coordinate the evaluation as part of your care plan rather than sending you elsewhere for multiple referrals.
Most patients in NYC are candidates for a same-day consultation and can be scheduled for the injection within the same week. We serve patients from all five boroughs - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island - as well as New Jersey and Connecticut.
If you have been living with lower back pain, leg pain, or sciatica, and conservative treatments (rest, physical therapy, oral medication) have not provided adequate relief, a lumbar ESI may be the most direct path to meaningful improvement without surgery.
Real Stories from our Patients
Dr. Febin Melepura, MD
Double Board-Certified Pain Specialist
Meet Dr. Febin Melepura — Your Lumbar Epidural Specialist in NYC
Dr. Febin Melepura, MD is a double board-certified interventional pain management specialist and the founder of the Sports Pain Institute of New York. He completed his residency and fellowship training at New York Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center, one of the nation's leading academic medical centers.
He holds dual board certifications from the American Board of Anesthesiology and the American Board of Pain Medicine, and has treated more than 7,500 patients and performed over 5,250 procedures throughout his career. He has been named a Top Pain Management Doctor in New York and one of America's Top Doctors™ by Castle Connolly.
Dr. Melepura's approach to lumbar pain is rooted in precision: confirm the nerve level generating your symptoms, deliver the corticosteroid exactly there, and get you back to your daily life as quickly as possible.
Ready to Book an Appointment?
Same-day appointments available. Call (212) 621-7746 or book online.
What Our Patients Say
"Able to make an appointment to see Dr. Melepura on short notice… attentive to my concerns… Jazmin was also very kind and helpful."
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"Dr Febin is fantastic! Highly recommend him and his practice the Spin clinic. The doctor is a good listener, kind, attentive and gave me great advice. "
"Dr.Melepura was very efficient and interpersonal, felt like he was understanding the problems I was having and explained the processes to take to rehabilitate. I would recommend."
"I felt listened to and truly understood by Dr. Melepura. Started PT the very next day. They were very friendly and I didn't feel rushed at all. Already recommended them to my friends who have or continue to play through pain."
Frequently Asked Questions About Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injections
For most patients, relief lasts between 3 weeks and 6 months. Patients with acute disc herniations and recent-onset radiculopathy tend to get the longest-lasting results. For chronic stenosis, relief is shorter but repeatable - a second injection can be given 6-8 weeks after the first.