Do epidural back injections work to relieve pain from herniated discs? If so, for how long?
114145
They sometimes do for a time at least although they work best on leg pain rather than the back pain.  I've had two,  the first improved my leg pain and did slightly improve the back pain for about 9 months.  The second only gave me about 12 weeks respite.  I eventually had a discectomy and nerve root decompression which has been a lot more helpful in my case although isn't necessarily right for everyone.
753836
I wouldn't recommend taking Prednisone for a long time.\nYou gain weight and your skin becomes more fragile.\nHerniated disc is a general term for back pain with a specific cause.\nHNP herniated nucleus pulposus is the condition when the jelly-like center of your disc is squeezed out like toothpaste into the spinal canal putting pressure on your nerves. A slipped disc is the entire disc sliding out from between vertebrae putting pressure on your nerves. Both are managed with physical therapy at the onset. If it worsens, surgery is indicated. It never heals, you only get used to the pain, less and less, everyday.\nPhysical therapy is designed to make your back stronger so the weight on your spine doesn't make matters worse.
429904
Are you talking about a fluoroscopic epidural?  After they inject the anesthesia they guide the needle by X-ray to pinpoint exactly where it will be most beneficial in reducing your pain.  The site listed below may give you more in depth information.  Hope this helps.
295756
Herniated Discs. are usually due to the intervertbral disc becoming compressed. If the disc has ruptured the center (gel substance) is pressing on your spinal cord and causing pain. If the disc has ruptured there isn't much that can be done outside of surgery. If the disc is not ruptured yet, it can repair itself, but will take a good while. The steroid shots try to reduce the inflammation and swelling and keep that disc from pressing on that spinal nerve. One good way to prevent FURTHER injury and let the disc heal is to build up a certain muscle that most of us don't use well. Inside your back there is a sheet like muscle called the transversus abdominis muscle. It attaches to the spine and wraps around your whole waist. It forms a cynlinder and keeps the spine straight so you can work and lift effectively. This is what weight lifters try to simulate with a weight belt. If you notice the good ones, they won't use one. Why? They know how to exercise there OWN weight belt (transversus abdominis muscle and don't need one. When you exercise your transversus abdominis muscle it will feel weird, because you usually don't exercise it. It is a hard muscle to exercise because you usually don't use it much. Check the link below to an article on how to exercise it. If you build this muscle up really good, you should see a dramatic decrease in back problems. Good Luck!
488225
Years ago, one of the world's leading spine surgeons made this statement at a large medical conference in Las Vegas, Nevada:\n\n"Your first back surgery is your best chance, your second back surgery is your last chance."\n\nYou are done with surgery.  It hasn't solved your problem  (in fact, it may be the cause of your continuing problems).\n\nCouple of suggestions.  First, how many Chiropractic evaluations/consults have you had?  A good Chiropractor may be a very valuable resource for you.\n\nSecond, there is a wonderful book available that explains the many unappreciated causes of chronic pain and how to effectively treat the causes to relieve the pain.  If you read this book, you will understand the many ways that surgery and even pain medications can actually aggravate and cause long-term chronic pain.  \n\nThe book is written by Sherry Rogers, M.D. and is called: "Pain Free in 6 Weeks".  It is available at Amazon.com or from the publisher at 1-800-846-6687.  I highly recommend this book.\n\nBest wishes and good luck.
548844
Have you contacted a doctor yet? How long has this been going on? There are many non-invasive treatments now available. \nTry using ice packs and heat pad alternately, 20 minutes each. The ice will numb the pain and the heat will relax the muscles. Also, Arnica massage oil used on the location will help ease the pain. Keep moving! Bed rest is good but not all day. However do not try lifting or reaching. Gentle stretches would be best. Also listen to soothing music while stretching, and visualize your back being in perfect condition, the disc slipping back into place smoothly and gently.\n\nHope this helps! with blessings
43783
While the spinal discs are designed to withstand significant amounts of force, injury and other problems with the disc can occur. When the disc ages or is injured, the outer portion of a disc may be torn and the disc’s inner material can herniate or extrude out of the disc. Each spinal disc is surrounded by highly sensitive nerves, and the inner portion of the disc that leaks out contains inflammatory proteins, so when this material comes in contact with a nerve it can cause pain that can travel down the length of the nerve. Even a small disc herniation that allows a small amount of the inner disc material to just touch the nerve can cause significant pain. \n In general, patients usually are advised to start with a course of non-surgical treatments prior to considering spine surgery for a herniated disc. \nBut, there are a few relatively rare conditions that require immediate surgical intervention.
513529
I had a knotted up nerve in my neck one time that was driving me insane.  The doctor gave  me some pain killer but that just made the room spin, so finally out of desperation I went to a chiropractor for the frist time in my life.  He crunched my back in several places and then practically twisted my head off from both sides.  The amazing thing was that within minutes I could feel a noticable difference and after going back a couple of more times it fixed it completely, something pain killers cannot do.
860610
Don't fool yourself....you're talking about being pain free with herniated discs. No way is that a possibility.\nBack and/or neck surgery is a tricky option.  It could correct it for a while or it could make it worse.  You mentioned that you have a degenerative problem.  Well, there you go.  This is a widespread problem in your body.  One surgery is not going to cure or heal it.  It will most likely come back and as you age it will get worse.\nI know quite a few people that had the operation you are talking about and after a couple of years they were right back where they started.  If you can, hold off for as long as you can with the surgery.  Research other options and try other avenues of pain relief.
430946
the ESIs outcomes are varied. my boyfriend had a series of 3 and nothing much happened for him, he said his shoulder felt numb for a while but he was still in a lot of pain. on the other hand i've had people tell me that after their first injection they felt like a new person and couldn't believe how good it worked. it really depends on what's causing your pain. my boyfriend did have better results when the ESI was done with fluoroscopy. the next step he's doing is neural block which is when they acutally burn the nerves. we'll see how that goes. good luck!
133624
What is an epidural and why is it helpful?\nAn epidural injection places anti-inflammatory medicine into the epidural space to decrease inflammation of the nerve roots, hopefully reducing the pain in the back or legs. The epidural injection may help the injury to heal by reducing inflammation. It may provide permanent relief or provide a period of pain relief for several months while the injury/cause of pain is healing. \n\nWhat happens during the procedure? \nAn IV is started so that relaxation medication can be given. The patient is placed lying on their side on the x-ray table and positioned in such a way that the physician can best visualize the low back using x-ray guidance. The skin on the back is scrubbed using 2 types of sterile scrub (soap). Next, the physician numbs a small area of skin with numbing medicine. This medicine stings for several seconds. After the numbing medicine has been given time to be effective, the physician directs a small needle, using x-ray guidance into the epidural space. A small amount of contrast (dye) is injected to insure the needle is properly positioned in the epidural space. A mixture of numbing medicine (anesthetic) and anti-inflammatory (cortisone/steroid) is injected. \n\nWhat happens after the procedure?\nPatients are then returned to the recovery area where they are monitored for 30-60 minutes. Patients are then asked to record the relief they experience during the next week on a post injection evaluation sheet ("pain "diary"). This will be given to the patient when they are discharged home. \n\nA follow-up appointment will be made for a repeat block if indicated. These injections are usually done in a series of three (3), about two (2) weeks apart. The back or legs may feel weak or numb for a few hours. This is to be expected, however it does not always happen.
1036215
JS,\nI'm somewhat familiar with your situation as I'm pretty much in the same boat.  I'm 54 and have degenerative disk disease (DDD) with 11 herniated and/or bulging disks in my upper and lower back.  It sounds like you might have the same thing along with the scoliosis.  Have you had an MRI of your upper back?  It's not a big deal knowing it, since there's no cure or treatment for DDD, in fact they're not sure what causes it.  The bottom line with DDD is there's nothing they can do but treat the pain.  Injuries to the spinal cord or the nerves that attach to the spinal cord do not heal themselves nor will they "reroute" themselves as other nerves in your body sometimes can.  With spinal nerve damage, once it happens, you've got it forever.\n\nI've got a damaged nerve on the left side of the T3/T4 disk that's been causing me constant pain for over 3 years now.  I was coughing, of all things, and blew the disk out, which crushed or dented the nerve.  I've been in constant, terrible pain ever since.  Every hour, every day, it hasn't let up, not even for a second.  There's no "comfortable position," no way to ease that "ice pick in the back" pain I have.  It just "is" and it takes over every aspect of your life.  Sometimes I do something, move a certain way, and bingo, the pain shoots up near the top of the scale.  Sometimes it goes back to "normal" (around a 3 or 4 on the pain scale) after a few minutes and sometimes it stays up there around an 8 or 9 for two or three days. Sometimes I can do some particular thing without making it worse and then I do the same thing a week later and I'm back in the jackpot.  It seems there's no reason or rhyme to it.  \n\nI've had 5 Epidural Steroid Injections (ESI), which unfortunately did nothing but give me diabetes, one more thing I have to deal with.  Ok, I should say that the docs think the ESI *did* work, in that it caused the disk to shrink just as it was supposed to, but unfortunately the physical damage to the nerve was already done and that's what is causing the chronic pain.  \n\nI'm taking some pretty strong pain killers, morphine and codeine (can you spell "addict"?), plus I've just started Lyrica.  I tried Neurontin a couple of years ago but it didn't help.  I'm hoping the Lyrica will help this time and maybe I can get off the morphine, which, for one thing doesn't work all that well but also it has some bad side effects.  Mine aren't as bad as some I've talked to, but they're bad enough.  Yes, I know it could be worse and while I have a great deal of sympathy for others that are worse off than me, hearing about the plight of someone else doesn't make me feel any better.\n  \nI'm also taking some stuff called Zanaflex (generic name: Tizanidine) which, while it has some side effects, really helped when I started getting extremely sharp, radiating pains that went from the damaged nerve at the T3/T4 site, down the back of my left arm and up the back of my neck.  The Zanaflex stopped the pain right away and it's one of the best meds I've ever taken when it comes to doing what it's supposed to.  I stopped taking it for a day and the pains came back, so I know it's working.  Zanaflex is a muscle relaxer and apparently the pain in my arm and neck were the result of muscle spasms generated by the nerve damage in my back.\n\nThe biggest problem I have with it is that it knocks me out cold!  I've talked to others that have had different, intolerable, side effects, so it's not going to work for everyone.  I'm supposed to take 4mg three times a day but instead I take two of them (8mg) before I go to bed.  It has a dual effect of stopping the pain plus it's a fantastic sleep aid - but you better not change your mind about sleeping after you take it!  \n\nOne of the best things about it is that it
924639
Both previous answers are good.  Correct stretches and Naprosen (Aleve or generic) worked best for me.  Although I had to take 3 or 4 of the 200 mg. tablets to get relief.  I'm not a doctor, so I can't recommend this.  It is a dosage that should be prescribed by a doctor.  I also found a small tubular shaped pillow that I placed behind my lower back when sitting (especially driving).  This provided some support and a little pressure to relieve the pain.   I had 2 epidural injections that worked for about 3 months each.  Then the pain returned.  I was fortunate to have insurance that allowed me to have micro-disc surgery.   No problem since then - but once you have had sciatica, you are always vulnerable to re-injure.  Best of luck.  God Bless.
1070962
Apparently people don't know about fibro and herniated disks.  Sometimes physical therapy makes it worse.  Try not to do to much at once, take frequent rest periods, even a nap in the afternoon will help.  A heating pad should help ease the pain some.  Ask the doc for some muscle relaxers.  How are you sleeping?  If not well, ask him if there is anything you can do to help you sleep better.  I have a cup of nighty nite tea, that helps me relax.  Concentrate on relaxing your muscles when they hurt.  When you hurt, a person tends to tense up and causes more pain.  Take a nice hot bath if that helps you relax....
1174
The initial treatment for a herniated disc is usually conservative and nonsurgical. Your doctor may prescribe bed rest, or advise you to maintain a low, painless activity level for a few days to several weeks. This helps the spinal nerve inflammation to decrease.  herniated disc is frequently treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication if the pain is only mild to moderate. An epidural steroid injection may be performed utilizing a spinal needle under x-ray guidance to direct the medication to the exact level of the disc herniation. Your doctor may recommend physical therapy. Therapy may include pelvic traction, gentle massage, ice and heat therapy, ultrasound, electrical muscle stimulation, and stretching exercises. Pain medication and muscle relaxants may also be beneficial in conjunction with the physical therapy. If these conservative measures do not help, then usually surgery is indicated.
1124462
There is another solution without operation: Go for a manual one-time treatment called Atlasprofilax. The effect is, that the pressure on the discs is distributed much better - so the herniated discs may recover completely.\n\nJust - the treatment is available in California and Europe only, costing approx. 220 dollars. It's really worth travelling far.
985050
I've suffered with it for over 30 years and haven't found anything yet.I do know that pain pills don't work on chronic pain like this.My doctor is talking about something called injection therapy.I haven't tried it yet but I'll try anything once.