I don’t have my back injected but I do get regular injections in my upper neck right at the hairline and left shoulder and they have done wonders for me. My doctor only gives a local anesthetic and its fine. you will be sore/stiff and have some pain for a few hours and I always iced for 30 min once I got home but the next day I feel like a new woman. My injections last for about 3 weeks and they have been a life saver.
Update, and a question for those of you who’ve had the injections!
My original sciatica is still GONE (hallelejuah for that!), BUT… We fixed S2 and S3 with those epidural injections, and now, S1 is very unhappy. I have a lot of numbness/tingling in my calves and feet, tight hips sometimes, yadda yadda. Before I had the injections, it was mostly S2-S3 that bothered me, and I only had nerve pain from S1 if I’d really, really, really overdone it. I also went for vascular testing to make sure there was nothing else going on to cause the numbness/tightness/tingling/cramping.
So… to go back for more injections, for S1? Some days it’s been so painful that it’s make just normal walking hurt, much less riding. Other days, it’s not as bad.
And also, being a horseperson, of course it bothers me most that this affects my ability to RIDE. And, to add to the “horse people are crazy,” my next thoughts to ponder are whether to get more injections prior to, or after, a big show I have at the end of April. (This just in: Horse people are crazy!) So, IF I do it, do I limp and medicate myself through the horse show, or take the time out to fix myself (hopefully fix myself) before then?
Those of you who’ve had multiple injections, any thoughts on going for another round with a different disc?
Hmmm…How many total did you have initially before it took care of S2/3? Was it gone after the first injection? If so, I’d go for another one to try and take out S1 pain. I had 3 epidurals, none worked at all until finally having RFA, which did work.
I’d say if the S1 injection would be your 2nd or 3rd, I’d go for it, especially since you had success a prior epidural. If it’s more than 3, I think I’d wait. I realize it’d be in a slightly different location, however I’m leery of too much steroids…
And as a sidenote, I didn’t have anything other than a topical anesthetic before my epidurals or RFA. I was back at work (as a motorcycle officer) the next day with no restrictions.
Hey, thank you for the reply!
I had two injections, total, for S2/S3. The first one took away most of the sciatic pain, and the second one took away the rest.
I made an appointment with my spine doc for a week from now – the soonest available – to talk to him about my S1 issues and see what he thinks about another injection. Maybe one more is all I need? Ideally?
I know more injections can carry more risks, just like with our horses, and it took me such a long time to even go for the first two because I was skeered of the idea… OTOH, if that’s “all” I need, then maybe I should go for it. I’ll get his opinion on the matter, and then decide.
And I did fine for the first two without sedation. I had a second or two of a NQR feeling, but I can tolerate that fine, especially now that I know what to expect. Both times, though, I left the office feeling really sore but generally OK, and then crashed and slept for the rest of the day. And I seem to need 2-3 days to get back to normal, so for the first two, I made the appointments for Friday morning, so I’d only need to take one day off work each time.
Bumping this up for an update on how you are doing now. I am having facet blocks done in my lumbar spine on Wednesday. Not sure which or how many yet. I had facet blocks and epidurals in my neck but this is the first time for my lower back.
I have a 24 year old schoolmaster who is still going strong but is a bit uneven in his back. My stirrups have to be at least one hole if not two different on the left than the right. Stirrups are dead even when the saddle is on my other horse. I have SI pain on the left that got better with PT but could be better so the injections are worth a try. I told the DRs to patch me up as best we could because I don’t know how much longer this will last but I am not going to miss a minute of it. We will worry about fixing the aftermath when he is gone.
