Did the epidural steroid injection help you?

DailyGroomer
DailyGroomer Posts: 93 Member
edited November 16 in Fitness and Exercise
Been dealing with chronic back pain for about 20 years now. It's really ramped up since i had my daughter 18 mos ago. It has gone out about 4 times since then. Pinched nerve started in July, subsided a bit and then recently popped back up the last 2 weeks after tripping and had bad sciatic pain since.

MRI revealed 2 slightly bulging discs, 1 very bulging disc pinching and cramping the nerve and a slight tear in a ligament.

Just had my shot today to the tune of about 1k.

did it work for you?

Replies

  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    It's such an individual response not sure anyone else's story is relevant. I herniated my L4 disc in 2012 and probably have at least one bulging one in my thoracic/ cervical vertebrae as well. I did some self-administered rehab for awhile before the shot and that helped. My pain had gone down considerably before the shot so I just needed one. My wife needed 3 and still has issues -but her current schedule makes it almost impossible to exercise.

    It's important to remember that the shot is not a cure. It just dials down the inflammation and maybe gives a pain-free "foothold" so you can attack the problem slightly more aggressively.
  • adamgoleafs87
    adamgoleafs87 Posts: 129 Member
    I had a back injury in May of 2013. I ended up having L5-S1 decompression after living with my sciatic nerve being pinched for about a year.

    My issue was compounded by the fact that 3 days before I was due for surgery there was a pipe burst at the hospital which flooded the brand new ORs. My surgery was pushed back by 6 months which I personally attribute to a lot of the issues I face today.

    Unfortunately down the right side of my leg I am still numb. I have pain most of the time however it is one of those things where I am getting used to living with it. I was on many different muscle and nerve relaxers, some with results others with side effects.

    I ended up getting an epidural injection and it seemed to work best for me. It last about 4 to 5 months but I definitely noticed a difference. I have been given the go-ahead by my surgeon to basically do everything I was doing before with the understanding that if I lost the 70 or so pounds I have gained since my injury that I am going to feel much better.
  • rebeccamorgan58152
    rebeccamorgan58152 Posts: 35 Member
    I've had it done a couple of times, it certainly helped in my case. Not a cure, as Azdak said, but I find that it significantly reduces the amount of seriously painful days. I have similar issues to you, by the sounds of it. I have also noticed that my weight makes a huge difference, if I go over 74 kg, I have much, much more trouble. Even losing a couple of kilos/pounds is a big help.
  • DailyGroomer
    DailyGroomer Posts: 93 Member
    I am just looking for some relief for a fee months, especially from this nerve pain. I can't sleep well with it and am in pain and don't want to do cardio that much. I just need a few good months so I can go back to going hard and the gym and with cardio and work on strengthening my core and back muscles which I feel would help in the future.

    I was doing really well with 3-4 gym visits/wk and cardio on some of my off days before 2 weeks ago. Now I'm just going to my trainer 2/wk
  • Jm172017
    Jm172017 Posts: 20 Member
    I'm a PT. I see about a 50-50 success rate for epidural lasting 3 weeks to a year. I also don't see a lot of people that I should see because they get the shot first and feel great. I would suggest following up with a good physical therapist for at least one session for a good evaluation and a solid home exercise plan. Congratulations on your baby by the way!
  • DailyGroomer
    DailyGroomer Posts: 93 Member
    Jm172017 wrote: »
    I'm a PT. I see about a 50-50 success rate for epidural lasting 3 weeks to a year. I also don't see a lot of people that I should see because they get the shot first and feel great. I would suggest following up with a good physical therapist for at least one session for a good evaluation and a solid home exercise plan. Congratulations on your baby by the way!

    Thank you :) I was thinking of visiting PT again since I've met my deductible but was hoping personal training would be enough.

    I know this injection sure is flushing my face..
  • Jm172017
    Jm172017 Posts: 20 Member
    DailyGroomer wrote: »
    Jm172017 wrote: »
    I'm a PT. I see about a 50-50 success rate for epidural lasting 3 weeks to a year. I also don't see a lot of people that I should see because they get the shot first and feel great. I would suggest following up with a good physical therapist for at least one session for a good evaluation and a solid home exercise plan. Congratulations on your baby by the way!

    Thank you :) I was thinking of visiting PT again since I've met my deductible but was hoping personal training would be enough.

    I know this injection sure is flushing my face..

    As a former personal trainer turned physical therapist please see a physical therapist. Preferably a clinic that sees patients one on one and if you can find one, a therapist with advanced certifications like OCS or more than just a "PT" behind their name.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    edited February 2017
    They did in fact help me this time around. Without going into a long story, 10+ years ago I had a bulging disc that was so bad they had to do emergency surgery and the steroid shots they tried prior to it seemed to make it worse. However, in late 2015 I managed to herniate/bulge two more discs, which also included the one that was previously repaired. One doctor gave me steroid shots in my home town (it was a new doctor, I did not go to the one in another town that did the surgery prior because I wanted quick relief). The shot did nothing. It hurt like hell, cost me well over 1k, and I ended up in just as much pain. I think honestly he didn't know what he was doing or was just a crappy doctor. Anyway, after a couple of weeks on pain killers and waiting for it to work, I went back to the doctor that did my surgery and he gave me another injection. His was different, cost me half as much (I had insurance, but somehow it covered more for him) and within a week it was like it never happened.

    Bad thing was... as soon as the pain was gone, I hit the exercise again, hard. I managed to re-injure it and had to go back to him for another shot (this would be my 3rd). It took about two weeks this time and I took it much easier working back up to exercise and it's held since then. Now I do a ton of core work to keep my core strong and hopefully I won't have further issues, at least until later in life.

    PS: Once the pain was manageable I started doing quite a bit of yoga to help force the discs back in place and keep them there. If you need it send me a msg and I'll send you some links. But give the shot a week or so to see if it helps, if it doesn't and you didn't go to an orthopedic surgeon, consider seeing one. Generally they will only give you 3 of those injections a year before they'll consider surgery. You're better off fixing it with the injections and yoga than doing the surgery, it's a permanent thing.
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    edited February 2017
    I have a herniation at L5 S1. My first injection lasted 4 weeks. That was 6.5 weeks ago. I'm getting another one in 2 weeks, but my insurance only covers 3 per anatomical site per year, so only one more after that. My shot was a piece of cake and I barely felt it. It helped, but my pain was never truly gone, it was just dulled. I am back to feeling how I did before the injection...in a lot of pain regardless of what I do.

    ETA: I've lost about 10 pounds since I initially hurt my back and there has been no difference in my pain.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    _dracarys_ wrote: »
    I have a herniation at L5 S1. My first injection lasted 4 weeks. That was 6.5 weeks ago. I'm getting another one in 2 weeks, but my insurance only covers 3 per anatomical site per year, so only one more after that. My shot was a piece of cake and I barely felt it. It helped, but my pain was never truly gone, it was just dulled. I am back to feeling how I did before the injection...in a lot of pain regardless of what I do.

    ETA: I've lost about 10 pounds since I initially hurt my back and there has been no difference in my pain.

    I would suggest hitting Google for "Yoga for lower back pain". You'll find a bunch of stretches which help to push the discs back into place. The steroids alone are not going to do that, it's typically why a good Orthopedic doctor will give you a list of exercises/stretches to do or send you to therapy along with the injections. The stretch that helped me the most was the one where you lie on your stomach and rest on your elbows and relax your lower back, I believe it's called a "press up", then there's the "press up extension" which is when you do the same one but straighten out your arms for a full extension. The point of it is to flex the lower back/spine in the opposite direction of the bulging disc which pushes it back to where it should be instead of bulging out into your nerves. Those two exercises are the ones that helped me the most. As soon as I could physically stand to do them I started doing them once an hour. A week later I could do the full extension, and a week after that the pain was gone. I now do those two exclusively before and after any exercise and the pain has not returned. Do consult your Ortho doc for his opinion, all I can say is that it helped me. I did not, however, do any of the stretches for leaning forward (bending forward) because I figured it would compound the problem, and the doctor told me not to bend forward anyway.

    http://www.everydayhealth.com/back-pain-pictures/best-yoga-poses-to-soothe-back-pain.aspx

    The stretch I do now is #8 on that list called "The Upward Facing Dog". Different yoga sites call it different things. Over time it's possible to force the discs back to where they should be.

    Other reading:

    https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/myths-about-disc-bulges-they-are-not-forever-but-training-is
    http://patch.com/california/sanramon/bp--how-to-treat-a-bulging-disc-in-your-lower-back

    There are many more.. Google is your friend.
  • DailyGroomer
    DailyGroomer Posts: 93 Member
    Spliner1969 wrote: »
    They did in fact help me this time around. Without going into a long story, 10+ years ago I had a bulging disc that was so bad they had to do emergency surgery and the steroid shots they tried prior to it seemed to make it worse. However, in late 2015 I managed to herniate/bulge two more discs, which also included the one that was previously repaired. One doctor gave me steroid shots in my home town (it was a new doctor, I did not go to the one in another town that did the surgery prior because I wanted quick relief). The shot did nothing. It hurt like hell, cost me well over 1k, and I ended up in just as much pain. I think honestly he didn't know what he was doing or was just a crappy doctor. Anyway, after a couple of weeks on pain killers and waiting for it to work, I went back to the doctor that did my surgery and he gave me another injection. His was different, cost me half as much (I had insurance, but somehow it covered more for him) and within a week it was like it never happened.

    Bad thing was... as soon as the pain was gone, I hit the exercise again, hard. I managed to re-injure it and had to go back to him for another shot (this would be my 3rd). It took about two weeks this time and I took it much easier working back up to exercise and it's held since then. Now I do a ton of core work to keep my core strong and hopefully I won't have further issues, at least until later in life.

    PS: Once the pain was manageable I started doing quite a bit of yoga to help force the discs back in place and keep them there. If you need it send me a msg and I'll send you some links. But give the shot a week or so to see if it helps, if it doesn't and you didn't go to an orthopedic surgeon, consider seeing one. Generally they will only give you 3 of those injections a year before they'll consider surgery. You're better off fixing it with the injections and yoga than doing the surgery, it's a permanent thing.

    wow- sorry you have been having such a hard time! I try to focus a lot on core work as well to try to strengthen and support my back better. I would love to see the yoga links. yoga is not really my thing but if it will help my back, then there's no harm in giving it a shot!
  • DailyGroomer
    DailyGroomer Posts: 93 Member
    _dracarys_ wrote: »
    I have a herniation at L5 S1. My first injection lasted 4 weeks. That was 6.5 weeks ago. I'm getting another one in 2 weeks, but my insurance only covers 3 per anatomical site per year, so only one more after that. My shot was a piece of cake and I barely felt it. It helped, but my pain was never truly gone, it was just dulled. I am back to feeling how I did before the injection...in a lot of pain regardless of what I do.

    ETA: I've lost about 10 pounds since I initially hurt my back and there has been no difference in my pain.

    I hope the second shot helps you!
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    Spliner1969 wrote: »
    _dracarys_ wrote: »
    I have a herniation at L5 S1. My first injection lasted 4 weeks. That was 6.5 weeks ago. I'm getting another one in 2 weeks, but my insurance only covers 3 per anatomical site per year, so only one more after that. My shot was a piece of cake and I barely felt it. It helped, but my pain was never truly gone, it was just dulled. I am back to feeling how I did before the injection...in a lot of pain regardless of what I do.

    ETA: I've lost about 10 pounds since I initially hurt my back and there has been no difference in my pain.

    I would suggest hitting Google for "Yoga for lower back pain". You'll find a bunch of stretches which help to push the discs back into place. The steroids alone are not going to do that, it's typically why a good Orthopedic doctor will give you a list of exercises/stretches to do or send you to therapy along with the injections. The stretch that helped me the most was the one where you lie on your stomach and rest on your elbows and relax your lower back, I believe it's called a "press up", then there's the "press up extension" which is when you do the same one but straighten out your arms for a full extension. The point of it is to flex the lower back/spine in the opposite direction of the bulging disc which pushes it back to where it should be instead of bulging out into your nerves. Those two exercises are the ones that helped me the most. As soon as I could physically stand to do them I started doing them once an hour. A week later I could do the full extension, and a week after that the pain was gone. I now do those two exclusively before and after any exercise and the pain has not returned. Do consult your Ortho doc for his opinion, all I can say is that it helped me. I did not, however, do any of the stretches for leaning forward (bending forward) because I figured it would compound the problem, and the doctor told me not to bend forward anyway.

    http://www.everydayhealth.com/back-pain-pictures/best-yoga-poses-to-soothe-back-pain.aspx

    The stretch I do now is #8 on that list called "The Upward Facing Dog". Different yoga sites call it different things. Over time it's possible to force the discs back to where they should be.

    Other reading:

    https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/myths-about-disc-bulges-they-are-not-forever-but-training-is
    http://patch.com/california/sanramon/bp--how-to-treat-a-bulging-disc-in-your-lower-back

    There are many more.. Google is your friend.

    I have done any and all stretches, poses, etc. to try to help and it does not. All my ortho and pain management doctors have said is "don't do anything that hurts." Well sleeping hurts; should I stop sleeping? I am seeing a neurosurgeon soon and am requesting to be sent back to physical therapy. When I went the first time I did not have a diagnosis; all he was treating me for was generic back pain.

    I do yoga regularly, I stopped doing squats and deadlifts, and nothing has helped. I have read every article, every thread, everything related to my issue and what helps vs. what doesn't. They all say different things and have a lot of conflicting information. So, no, Google has not been my friend and playing Dr. Google has probably made me worse off.

    I never expected my injections to be a cure, but I was hoping it would last longer than 4 weeks.

  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
    edited February 2017
    _dracarys_ wrote: »
    I have done any and all stretches, poses, etc. to try to help and it does not. All my ortho and pain management doctors have said is "don't do anything that hurts." Well sleeping hurts; should I stop sleeping? I am seeing a neurosurgeon soon and am requesting to be sent back to physical therapy. When I went the first time I did not have a diagnosis; all he was treating me for was generic back pain.

    I do yoga regularly, I stopped doing squats and deadlifts, and nothing has helped. I have read every article, every thread, everything related to my issue and what helps vs. what doesn't. They all say different things and have a lot of conflicting information. So, no, Google has not been my friend and playing Dr. Google has probably made me worse off.

    I never expected my injections to be a cure, but I was hoping it would last longer than 4 weeks.

    I know the pain you're going through. The first time around they had to wheel me into the ER on a bed because I couldn't sit in a wheelchair, couldn't stand, and couldn't sit up at all. Even laying down hurt. It was probably the worst pain I've felt in my life. The nurse asked me "on a scale of 1 to 10.. how much pain are you in". My answer was "lady, if you cut my leg off it would hurt less". She said "that's a 10" and walked out and came back with morphine. They even sent me to get another MRI and I couldn't sit still long enough for them to get an image. It was hell. They gave me the shots that first time and sent me home and told me to stay in bed for 3 weeks and gave me a huge bottle of Percocet. The next day all the pain was gone, so I thought hey.. it worked! But then I noticed the feeling below my waist was gone too, along with bladder control. I was in surgery 24 hours later.

    This last time I slept 3 weeks on my living room floor and crawled to the bathroom, then after I hurt it again I spent another two weeks on the living room floor. It hurt too much to lay in bed. I slept on a yoga mat in my living room and my wife brought me soup the whole time. It did take me 3 rounds of the shots, so I hope it does not take that long for you and something helps, but the first time around I ended up having to have it repaired surgically. I had to beg doctors for pain killers, they seem fairly uncaring about it. But even the max dose of Percocet would only slightly dull the pain, and toward the end wouldn't touch it at all. I think they finally used morphine on me. So it really depends on which discs are injured, how they are injured, nobody is the same. As I said, those things helped me this time around, first time nothing helped but surgery.

    I've been through it three times now and never want to do it again, so I hammer my core every chance I get (now that I'm healed). Even with all that doctors tell me I have a permanent 25lb weight restriction because the L4/L5 disc is barely there now that they had to remove so much of it the first time.
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