Effects of locally applied 6-α methylprednisolone (“METH-P”) on pain behaviors and on sensory neuron excitability measured on postoperative day (POD) 3. 6-α Methylprednisolone treatment significantly reduced the mechanical hypersensitivity induced by local dorsal root ganglion inflammation (LID) through POD 7 (A). 6-α Methylprednisolone also reduced responses to light brush stroke and acetone (B, C) at the indicated time points. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001, significantly different from LID group on that day (two-way repeated-measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post-test). N = 6 rats per group. Cells recorded in isolated whole dorsal root ganglia, 3 days after inflammation, showed increased excitability and spontaneous activity (SA). SA was increased by LID and decreased by 6-α methylprednisolone, though the latter effect did not reach significance (P = 0.10) (D). Threshold (F) was more negative in steroid-treated cells, but the effect on rheobase (E) was not significant. N = 71 cells from three animals in LID POD3 + METH-P group. Data from normal and LID POD3 cells replotted from previous figure for comparison. *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001, significant difference between normal and LID groups; ###P < 0.001, significant difference between LID and LID+ METH-P group (one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-test or Kruskal–Wallis test with Dunn multiple comparison post-test). PWT = paw withdrawal threshold.