Bad Back

Too Tall wrote:
I have four herniated disc and stenosis in my lower back. Have been able to control the pain with drugs. It is getting so I don't sleep past 3 or 4 AM. My DR wants to inject me with steroids. I hear a lot of bad about the shots. I would like to hear from regular folks that are dealing with this problem. I'm 61 and if getting up at 4 is what I have to deal with, well I will.

I had my first neck surgery 12 years ago and was still in pain until severe pain forced a second neck surgery. For almost those 12 years I have been getting steroid injections. They do help. But at some point they can stop being beneficial. However there are several pros and cons I can think of.

Cons:

Steroid shots helped me, but over time will lower you immune system. Need to consider age as I am 50. I had to get a pneumonia shot, normally given to people 60+ to build their immune system.

Steroid shots will play havok with blood sugar. If you have diabetes, recovering from the impact of the shots can be rough. Always get them in the morning to avoid spikes.

They only last 3 months and can only be given on one side at a time. For me I also have back issues, so I had to very every 3 months depending on which area was hurting the most.

Pros:

The pain is rough after the shots. But will provide relief. Take advantage of the relief to stretch/exercise without over doing it. The more you can move while you feel good, the more benefit you will have from the shots.

It can be very useful as a diagnosis tool, to determine which area of you disks is giving you the most pain. If you do need further treatment, the shots will have already identified the areas of concern.



For me after 12 years the shots no longer worked or lasted more than a few weeks. After running out of options, the Nurse Practitioner recommended it was time for me to consider Radio Frequency Abilation (RFA). If you have not heard of the procedure look it up. After diagnosing which nerves are causing the pain (reason for steriod shots before hand) they "burn" the nerve ends at that disc. That kills the pain signal to the brain. While you still have disc issues, you no longer receive a signal for pain.

I can tell you, they did the left side of my neck a few weeks ago. And I can tell you after the pain of the procedure went away, it has reduced my severe pain by 80%. Yep, that is 80%. I feel very little pain and have full movement in my neck. IN the next two weeks they will do the right 3 disc levels of where my surgery was. I can't wait, and eagerly await the minimal pain from the procedure :)

The procedure is not for everyone, and as you can imagine since I am not feeling any pain, I will not know when I am hurting. So caution is the word. No roller coaster rides!

The nerves do grow back. Takes about 6 months, and after a couple of times many people report they do not need the next procedure for years.

And of course, I have also read the procedure does not help everyone.

Hope my rambling has helped. But definitely ask your doctor about RFA, I may be a strong advocate now:)