Steroid injections

[Scott @ Noble Hardware]

So I went in and had steroid injections done on my back on Friday. I'm hoping this will get me out of pain and going again.

Before the injections the doctor came in and started discussing my case and what he was thinking of doing. The MRI wasn't really clear. He was hemming and hawing about what might work, and asked what sport I do most frequently.

When I said rowing, you could see the light go on in his head. Evidently he'd done some fellowship in NYC and had picked up some knowledge of rower-specific spinal issues. He asked if I had sharp pain or dull. Sharp. He then said with great confidence that my problem would either be facet joint bone spurs or pinched nerves, but most likely the nerves. He said he would be able to tell with the flouroscopic x-ray.

After waking up, he came by again and said he saw pinched nerves bilaterally at L5, and also on the left at S1. He said there was also a bone spur there, but I don't remember where. He said there might be a little disc herneation too, but I didn't get to go in to detail. He felt pretty confident that the injections would make all the difference.

So I'm waiting for the roids to kick in - one to two weeks is about what it takes. I've felt so-so, though I've done some swimming and that's felt good. Fingers-crossed...

[rainmaker]

Scott,


I'm curious, did they have the desired effect? I have just had an MRI showing two herniated discs, Degenerative Disc, narrowing of the spinal column, arthritis and pinched nerves. I have a Doctor's aptmt tomorrow and a neurosurgeon aptmt in a few weeks and am trying to get as much information as possible beforehand. I'm 28 and the Neuro surgeon on the phone suggested I have the back of a 68 year old...

[lt.wolf]

Good luck and rage on!!

[Remomex]

Scott,


I'm curious, did they have the desired effect? I have just had an MRI showing two herniated discs, Degenerative Disc, narrowing of the spinal column, arthritis and pinched nerves. I have a Doctor's aptmt tomorrow and a neurosurgeon aptmt in a few weeks and am trying to get as much information as possible beforehand. I'm 28 and the Neuro surgeon on the phone suggested I have the back of a 68 year old...

Sounds like you'll end up needing surgery, though at such a young age they may not want to do that unless really necessary. Steroid injections don't really fix the problem per se, they just get rid of the pain/discomfort. Eventually the pain will come back and you'll either need more injections or eventually just surgery.

If you only had a herniated disc (HNP) a microdiskectomy probably would be enough, which is a really quick and relatively simple surgery. But if you have spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal column), arthritis, and pinched nerves, you may need more extensive surgery if your pain/discomfort warrants it. That could include screws, rods, and cages. Fairly major surgery, though nothing out of the "routine".

I wish you the best.

[Scott @ Noble Hardware]

Rainmaker, funny you should resurrect this topic right now. It's a two part answer - the injections never did help. Not one bit. That's just my situation, you may have better luck.

The second part of the answer is that I started seeing a new PT on Friday. She took about a million notes, did some palpating, and had me do some range of motion exercises. Her diagnosis was extreme hyper-flexion of the lumbar spine. Basically I've been living my life will all those low-back muscles in constant spasm. This also rotates the pelvis forward and over-compresses the facet joints. This sort of jives with what others told me, but she seems to be taking a wider view of things.

Tuesday was my first treatment. The new PT is a big fan of dry-needling, and she needled my paraspinals in four places - bilaterally at L5 & L6. She then did some stretching, taught me some very subtle ab exercises, and sent me home with a list to follow.

After only two days I feel like a new man. I'm a bit astounded, to be honest. I've spent a full year in more or less constant pain. I've seen chiropractors, other PTs, multiple back docs, acupuncturists, and had MRI's and injections. Two days and I feel almost pain free. My biggest problem now is where to find ticker-tape so that I throw my PT a parade...

My suspicion was always that my problems were muscular, but no one could cut through the spasms and cycle of pain. Good luck with your stuff. If you can avoid surgery that would probably be a good thing. I've seen some friends' lives pretty messed up by back surgeries.