A 44-year-old member asked:
Does epidural anesthesia hurt > help?
4 doctor answers • 7 doctors weighed in

Dr. Brian Siegelanswered
Pain Management 31 years experience
Yes: Epidural anesthesia can reduce surgery related comlpications and enhance post operative pain management.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago

Dr. Karen Sibert commented
Anesthesiology 41 years experience
The way the question is phrased, it appears to be asking if epidurals hurt more than they help. See my answer below for some of the ways epidurals can be of help.
Mar 25, 2012

Dr. Karen Sibertanswered
Anesthesiology 41 years experience
Epidurals can help!: Definitely helps more than it hurts! epidurals can be wonderful to help with labor pain and provide safe anesthesia for c-sections. Epidural steroids can help a lot with back pain. Epidurals can also be great for orthopedic procedures on the hips or knees. The anesthesiologist will numb up the area well, so it should hurt very little to have an epidural put in. Definitely worth it!
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago

Dr. David Rosenfeldanswered
Pain Management 29 years experience
It helps: Helps relieve pain during surgery. An epidural steroid injection can help with pain pain and "sciatica".
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
6k viewsAnswered >2 years ago

Dr. Richard Pollardanswered
Anesthesiology 32 years experience
See below: The use of epidurals in anesthesia has proven to decrease the narcotics a patient requires for surgery, it also speeds their recovery time. It does involve the placement of a needle in the back, which can hurt a bit, but once done is painless.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5.2k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
Last updated May 3, 2015
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