Epidural Steroid Injection Glossary of Terms

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Adjacent: Lying nearby. Related terms include superjacent, subjacent, and circumjacent. Fr...

Allergic reaction: The hypersensitive response of the immune system of an allergic indiv...

Blood pressure: The blood pressure is the pressure of the blood within the arteries. It is...

Breathing: The process of respiration, during which air is inhaled into the lungs through ...

Cervical: Having to do with any kind of neck, including the neck on which the head is perc...

Compression: 1. The act of pressing together. As in a compression fracture, nerve c...

Disc: Shortened terminology for an intervertebral disc, a disk-shaped piece of specialized...

Dizziness: Painless head discomfort with many possible causes including disturbances of ...

Dura: The outermost, toughest, and most fibrous of the three membranes (meninges) covering...

Epidural: Outside the dura, the outermost, toughest, and most fibrous of the three membran...

Headache: A pain in the head with the pain being above the eyes or the ears, behind the he...

Herniated disc: Rupturing of the tissue that separates the vertebral bones of the spinal c...

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, an...

Inflammation: A localized reaction that produces redness, warmth, swelling, and pain as a ...

Injury: Harm or hurt. To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emot...

Itching: An uncomfortable sensation in the skin that feels as if something is crawling on ...

Lamina: Plates or layers. For example, the lamina arcus vertebrae are plates of bone withi...

Lumbar: Referring to the five lumbar vertebrae, the disks below them, and the correspondin...

Neck: The part of the body joining the head to the shoulders. Also, any narrow or constric...

Nerve: A bundle of fibers that uses electrical and chemical signals to transmit sensory an...

Nerve compression: Pinching' of a nerve that is due to too much pressure on it. For exampl...

Numb: Numb, or numbness is a loss of the sensation of feeling in an area of the body. Numb...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Radiculopathy: Any disease of the spinal nerve roots and spinal nerves. Radiculopathy is c...

Shingles: An acute infection caused by the herpes zoster virus, the same virus as causes ...

Spinal cord: The major column of nerve tissue that is connected to the brain and lies with...

Spinal stenosis: Narrowing of the spinal canal. Spinal stenosis is most commonly caused by...

Spine: 1) The column of bone known as the vertebral column, which surrounds and protects ...

Stenosis: A narrowing. For example, aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve in ...

Steroid: One of a large group of chemical substances classified by a specific carbon struc...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Thoracic: Pertaining to the chest. For example, the thoracic aorta is the part of the aort...

Vein: A blood vessel that carries blood that is low in oxygen content from the body back t...

Wheezing: A whistling noise in the chest during breathing. Wheezing occurs when the airway...

X-ray: High-energy radiation with waves shorter than those of visible light. X-ray is used...