Tell me about Spinal Injections

[sadlebred]

I finally got the results back from the MRI. I have stenosis, which is a narrowing of the spinal canal. The doctor thinks something is pressing on a nerve, which is causing my problems. He said that up until now I've done all of the right conservative treatments-PT, anti-inflammatories, rest, etc.

Tomorrow I'm going to get an epidural to see if it helps relieve the pain. He said that the reasonable expectation is a 50-60% decrease in pain. I"m fine with that. It won't cause the stenosis to get better, but it will provide pain relief until my body can heal itself. That can take up to a year.

Has anyone had a spinal epidural for something like this before? What can you tell me about it? He said that I would be lightly sedated for it.

[JayTea]

I've had it done twice. No sedation and I barely felt the needle go in. I was in no pain for about 6 months and have an appt for another one next week.

[sugarbear]

I've had them done for degenerative disc disease. They relieved my pain almost entirely, but it was temporary. I got them every three months or so until the issue completely resolved.

When I re-injured myself, the doc wouldn't let me get any more injections, so I went for surgery.

[mcc]

My dad had them done and it helped for a bit. Strangely enough he was also deciding in Vitamin D and his pain improved after he started taking it. He was a candidate for surgery but is now pain and injection free.