I had a steroid injection into my lower back. Now I know that is not the same but the injection did wonders. I fought and refuesd to get the injection because I am scared to death of needles. However, now that it is over, I am glad I did it. One bit of advice I would like to give is to remember that you are still injured and that the injection helps with the pain. With the pain gone the body dosen't have any way of letting you know you are doing something you should not be doing. With that in mind, don't do anything that would aggravate your symptoms.

The most common question asked on this board, and your wise to ask it before your get "stuck". (lol sorry)

Here is the previous discussion that addresses your question: http://dailystrength.org/discussions/Back_Pain/messages/1240

Good point above: Your facet joints will be "numbed out" and will not report pain as they should. This is yet another reason why steroid injections aren't worth the the pain, risk and expense they impose on us.

Check the linked discussion: There are 58 replies by 47 people, of which less than 2% report a positive experience with epidural treatment. Lances post above brings the tally to 45/didn't help -- 3/helped.

Four things I've learned for sure:
-It's a temporary fix, nothing more.
-It's painful and risky for zero guarantee of relief
-If your unsure, don't do it.
-Most receive epidurals completely incognizant of their doctors interest.

As my GP said: If you knew the profit margin of a single epidural injection you may better know why they're such a fixture among doctors routine advice. I agree with her.

Is a needle in your neck worth temporary relief? No. Of course not. But people keep lining up.

--waiting for the ad space of these advice columns to over come the advice! Jeeze.

Thanks for the advice. Everyone I'm talking to lately is so against it, even at work. I'm going to get a second opinion.
Gosh it's like I'm at a dead end!

I had these same injections three times. they are very quick and relatively painless. Just a quick "stick". They did not help me but they may help you.

I have had them before and they help. I am getting ready to do them again. They are wanting to fuse l-5 through s-1 and put a rod in....trying a few more things first.

Before I had surgery on my lumber spine, fused L1 to S1, I had three steroid injections before I saw my Neuro. The reason I decided on surgery was Neuro explained to me that he was seeing alot of patients who had the injection winding up with abscess in the area of the injection. The injectons sometime work but can cause major problems.

Thank you all for posting. Keep them coming! I think I'm going to wait it out a little while longer. The pain isn't so severe that I can't move or anything, well some days it feels like that. But I'm just going to wait a little while longer to figure out what it is that I really want to do.

So far I'm hearing that it hasn't worked for too many people.

Hi Melissa, I was curious if you checked out the link above with all the epidural opinions everyone has already submitted on this subject. This link:

http://dailystrength.org/discussions/Back_Pain/messages/1240

what did you think about the replies in that discussion? Check it out and give us some feedback as to what you thought. Thanks.

I had injections in 1999 and 2000. I now have arthritis,ddd and arachnoiditis. My pm doc wants to do injections because it is the "next step" but I will not let him do them. Please listen to any warnings. The injections is why I believe that I have arachnoiditis. It is rare but very painful. My pm doc said that it is caused from the doc not knowing what he was doing. But doesn't want to get involved in legal matters.

I'm truly sorry to hear that, iluvcat. Arachnoiditus is said to be the most painful spinal condition known.

Having read that, my epidural comments are now complete. I am now officially blown away by the number of people here who have received permanent damage due to this treatment. And more so blown away by the people who continue to receive it after learning this --all in hope of 2 days of temporary relief-- I'll never understand it. I suppose somewhere between our desperation and steady profits, people will just keep getting istuck and blaming the doctor later. Oh well, may God be with you my good people of bad-treatment land. I wish you well as you risk additional pain and permanent damage in the name of your Doctors Country Club dues. Be well needle lovers! au revoir! :P

(serious note to future readers: Avoid this treatment when possible, it's your decision not your doctors)

SnowRider, I did read some of the posts in that other thread. I'm so mixed on the subject now. I was reluctant at first, but willing to go through with it, but after talking to so many different people I'm leaning towards not doing anything at all! The pain is bothersome, but I'm wondering if it's bothersome enough to get injections. What I'm hearing are a lot of negative things resulting from the injections. The last thing I want is another problem.

Have any of you tried acupuncture? I've done it once or twice a few years ago b/c I had a lot of knots in my back. If I do decide to do it, I'd have to pay $40 per visit, which I shouldn't complain about since some people don't have insurance. But how many times do you think I'd have to go for that? How much less risky is it compared to the injections?

My doctor mentioned acupuncture as an option as well.

Hi All,
My mom goes to an acupuncurist for her knee. She says it really helps her.
She wanted to pay for me to go, but I am soooo scared of needles, that I am hesitant to go. Is there any way to get over being this scared? I have no medical coverage and no money, so I am fighting the pain with Vicodin.
Can anyone give me some suggestions? I am open-minded.
Thank you in advance.
Karen

I wish I had read input from here before my husband had his three injections....they gave him no relief! and now I will pray there will not be any "side effects" as he had his last injection two weeks ago

I HAVE ALREADY PREPARED MYSELF IN CASE ANYONE TELLS ME I NEED ANY KIND OF BACK INJECTIONS.
THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, SOME DRS WILL CAUSE YOU A LOT OF PAIN AND THINK NOTHING OF IT, I JUST HAD TO HAVE FACIAL SURGERY IN MY HOSPITAL BED WITH ONLY A LOCAL. I CRIED GETTING THE LOCAL, IT WAS AGONY.
FROM NOW ON, I REQUIRE A DR TO SEDATE ME FOR ANY PROCEDURES. THEY ARE OUT THERE, YOU HAVE TO ASK!