How is an epidural injection done?
Having an epidural is not really painful. Patients report that it feels strange, like a pressure in the back. The most sensitive part is the skin, which the anaesthetist first numbs by injecting a small amount of local anaesthetic with a tiny needle, almost as thin as a hair. Because of the small size of this needle, this is hardly felt by the patient. After a minute or so, when the skin has become numb, the anaesthetist inserts the epidural needle, which is considerably thicker, but is not felt anymore. In the tissues underneath the skin, up to the epidural space, there are very few nerve endings or pain receptors, so once the needle has passed the skin, the procedure is hardly, if at all, painful. The epidural needle is inserted to a depth of 2 4 cm, where the epidural space will be encountered. The anaesthetist knows when the needle tip has reached the epidural space by using a loss of resistance technique. This means the following: A syringe is attached to the epidural needle, whil
