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What Causes Pain In Neck After Having Epidural?

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Posted on Mon, 22 Jun 2015
Question: om my third neck epidural, i felt the needle scrape some bone. continue to have pain in back of my head, even after subsequent RAD. also frequent headaches.
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Answered by Dr. Olsi Taka (44 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Read below.

Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I am sorry about the symptoms you are experiencing.

I wish you could have provided some more details on the reason you had the epidural and how long ago it was. To your knowledge did the doctors confirm a complication like puncture of the dura (which is the most common cause for headache after epidural due to cerebrospinal fluid leak), or some other complication? Headache outside of dural puncture is uncommon, bone scraping wouldn't leave any residual headache cat least not for a long time.

About the pain in the back of your head it might be useful to know its type (sharp, lancinating, dull, throbbing etc), frequency, distribution area, time of onset after the epidural.
Also I am sorry but I have to ask what do you meand by the acronym RAD, even after searching through different medical acronym I didn't find any which could apply to your situation.

From the present information, since it seems that tylenol and percocet aren't working for you, and I suppose over the counter pain antiinflammatory killers like Ibuprofen have been tried, I suggest the use of drugs for modulation of chronic and neuropathic pain. They are divided in two main groups, the antidepressants like duloxetin, amitriptyline, or the anticonvulsants like gabapentin, pregabalin.
If it is a question of pain due to dural puncture the most effective method would be a blood patch, injection of some blood into the epidural space which should seal the leak.

I remain at your disposal for further questions, possibly with some more info.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Olsi Taka

Neurologist

Practicing since :2004

Answered : 3673 Questions

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What Causes Pain In Neck After Having Epidural?

Brief Answer: Read below. Detailed Answer: I read your question carefully and I am sorry about the symptoms you are experiencing. I wish you could have provided some more details on the reason you had the epidural and how long ago it was. To your knowledge did the doctors confirm a complication like puncture of the dura (which is the most common cause for headache after epidural due to cerebrospinal fluid leak), or some other complication? Headache outside of dural puncture is uncommon, bone scraping wouldn't leave any residual headache cat least not for a long time. About the pain in the back of your head it might be useful to know its type (sharp, lancinating, dull, throbbing etc), frequency, distribution area, time of onset after the epidural. Also I am sorry but I have to ask what do you meand by the acronym RAD, even after searching through different medical acronym I didn't find any which could apply to your situation. From the present information, since it seems that tylenol and percocet aren't working for you, and I suppose over the counter pain antiinflammatory killers like Ibuprofen have been tried, I suggest the use of drugs for modulation of chronic and neuropathic pain. They are divided in two main groups, the antidepressants like duloxetin, amitriptyline, or the anticonvulsants like gabapentin, pregabalin. If it is a question of pain due to dural puncture the most effective method would be a blood patch, injection of some blood into the epidural space which should seal the leak. I remain at your disposal for further questions, possibly with some more info.