CL,
I do hope your epidural works for you.
I'm not real informed on all this but when I was getting an injection I asked the nurse if it was an epidural, a steroid shot or a cortizone shot. She said it's kind of all those so call it any of those. I had gone to a pain mangement doctor a friend recommended. The Dr. injected some dye and by guidance with an X-ray, he did the injection. When he did the actual injection, it was like a bolt of lightening went through me but it was almost immediate relief. The dr. said it would be 1 to 7 days for it to work. They scheduled a second shot for a month out and said if I didn't need it to cancel it later. After 3 weeks pain-free the pain started coming back. The second shot did not hurt at all and I'm still pain free after 3 months. So, where my shot was injected, I have no idea, I only know that it worked. They used a local anesthetic in both injections.