Steroid Injections

[hurt back]

Hello all! I live in TN and hurt my back a/b 3 months ago. Have been thru numerous PT visits, pain meds, and now my dr referred me to another member of his staff that specializes in the injections to see if they help. My main questions are i'm wanting others input on if these actually take care of pain. I'm in constant pain daily, have pain in both hips and goes down left leg. Occasional urinate on myself since accident and have constant headaches. My other Dr. did an MRI and found I have a degenerative disc on L4, L5. and with me being 30 he said that the injury is what has "flared" this up as the injury didn't cause the dd.

As I said looking for some advice, waiting on the workers comp to approve my shots so not sure when i'll be going back but wanted some input.


Thanks in advance.

[brneyedgirl40]

Hello,
I have the exact injury.I also suffer from constant pain in my hips and down my left leg and loss of bladder control .I couldnt believe how similar our cases are.I just went through my first round of injections.Personally it didnt work for me and I have no relief at all.I have heard everyone has different effects from the injections.I know alot of people that they helped for a short time,some that had complete pain relief for many months and then some like myself that it didnt help at all.Its hard to predict what they will do for you.I hope they are successful in treating yor pain and you finally get some relief!Good luck to you!

[AQA]

Different people react differently to meds.

I had a few. They were a two part injection. Part was steriod and the other part was to remove scar tissue. The relief was minimal.

Just curiuos, what is the dr/s. explaination in reference to the issue with the head aches??? I understand the issue with the urination, hip and left leg.

[awcurl]

I've had three injections at t-11 with little to no lasting benefit. They helped pain for a few days then pain was back to being as it was previous to the injections.

[hurt back]

thanks for the replies..

aqa - the current dr said that could be from many things... from my pain medicine (hdryocodone), stress, anxiety, etc. he stated that after the shot if still there then i should see my pcp for further diagnosis..

I go in on Monday for the injections I just hope they work, but I've heard so many bad things that I have very little confidence.

I've been told that they can do up to 3 per year and if that doesn't work then usually surgery is the next option.. is that correct?

I know that I have degenerative disc disease at L4 L5, and the injury is supposively what flared this up, so I wonder if the surgery will help or hurt..

Any thoughts?

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(06-07-2012 09:30 PM)brneyedgirl40 Wrote:  Hello,
I have the exact injury.I also suffer from constant pain in my hips and down my left leg and loss of bladder control .I couldnt believe how similar our cases are.I just went through my first round of injections.Personally it didnt work for me and I have no relief at all.I have heard everyone has different effects from the injections.I know alot of people that they helped for a short time,some that had complete pain relief for many months and then some like myself that it didnt help at all.Its hard to predict what they will do for you.I hope they are successful in treating yor pain and you finally get some relief!Good luck to you!

hello brneye... Its very weird having these symptoms.. I mean one day the pain level will shoot up to a 10 and the next is back to "normal" at a 6 or 7.. I can just be sitting still on the couch and then BAM it flares up and all heck breaks loose. What has your Dr told you? I hope that you get to feeling better.

[brneyedgirl40]

Mine flares up like that also.My doctor basically told me that I will probably end up having surgery.They always have to try other noninvasive techniques first such as the physical therapy and the injections to see if they help first.My next step is the epidural injection which I am not looking forward to.I am very frustrated at this point and just want some relief.Good luck on Monday! I am curious to see if the injections help you so let me know if you can.I might even try them again if they do.Feel better soon.Take care!

[hurt back]

(06-08-2012 05:18 PM)brneyedgirl40 Wrote:  Mine flares up like that also.My doctor basically told me that I will probably end up having surgery.They always have to try other noninvasive techniques first such as the physical therapy and the injections to see if they help first.My next step is the epidural injection which I am not looking forward to.I am very frustrated at this point and just want some relief.Good luck on Monday! I am curious to see if the injections help you so let me know if you can.I might even try them again if they do.Feel better soon.Take care!

I will let you know on Monday how it goes! Hopefully all goes well, I really don't want to have surgery.... but if that will make me feel better then I'm all for it for the pain relief!!

[AQA]

Before I give you my thoughts on the question you asked, I would like a litlle more info. If possible.

By now I am sure your did your research on DDD. and you know that 30% of people between the age of 30 and 50 have it. You also know that when people over the age of 60 have an mri. It is common for DDD to show up.
A great deal of people have DDD. However; they do not have your symptoms. HHHHMMMM?????? That is were the question comes into play.

What was the injury?? What happened?? Am I correct with the assumption that you had an mri?? If so, was it open or closed??? have you had any other exams or tests performed??

[hurt back]

AQA - The injury is lower back pain that radiates to both hips, sharp pain that occasionally runs down my left leg w/o warning. Occasional uncontrol of bladder & some slight constipation problems.

The injury happened at work opening up a bay door for the shop, bent over to open the door heard a pop/snap and then tremendous pain.

Yes I did have an MRI performed (closed) which led to Dr informing me I have DDD, had xrays ( twice at 2 different places ), over 2 months of 3 times a week PT until last month ( which only made the pain worse and my Dr. requested prior to MRI to stop any lumbar therapy due to the pain) and after seeing the prior Dr. for the past 3 months he referred me to this current Dr. ( still in his company ) for the ESI's. The Dr that I'm currently seeing said he sees no reason, why I would need surgery at all, and the day I was there said it was ok for me to go back to work. I informed him my employer fired me, I couldn't go back to work, his nurse stated that he had to put that on the paper. I said but I have irregular bladder control, constant pain, constant headaches, and you restricted to 10 lbs max. Who will hire someone like that?

I'm very concerned because the Dr I have prior is a great Dr and very reconized in our community and this guy I feel as if the insurance company is paying him to feed me crap.

He said that if the shots don't help he would recommend a nerve study? And possibly even nerve blocks? I mean if the DDD is causing the problem then wouldn't surgery be cheaper?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[AQA]

Have you thought about getting a second oppinion???? HHHHMMMM???

In my mind, something still does not sound right. I am by NO means an expert in reference to the spine or spinal cord. I only have my own experience in reference to my injury. My signiture (below my post) state my surgeries.

In reference to your first question. I had the injections AFTER the exploritory surgery. They were done by my pm dr.. I did not care for the injection (being stuck with the needle). I had minimal relief. That is what led to the SCS.

I had the emg/ncv (nerve study) before my second surgery (the fusion). Which was before the injections. The more I think about. It makes sense why I got the injections when I did and why you are getting them know.

Did you by chance get a copy of your MRI and report??? I know, that you being a very astute WC victim. That you have copies of all your medical records. Right????