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Spinal steroid injection for lumbar herniated discs
I am 68 years young & just diagnosed with 4 herniated discs in my lumbar region of the spine. PT is helping only slightly with pain. Because of multiple health conditions pain medication is limited or out of the question. My pain management physician wants to do a spinal steroid injection in my lumbar area. Occasionally I get numbness in the front of my thighs. Sitting aggravates the condition.
With my panic disorder I am frightened of the procedure. I will be put to sleep for it. Any thoughts on this proposed spinal steroid injection?
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Hi artsy,
Sorry for the pain of sciatica you're going through. I had trouble with it twice, each time affecting a different leg. The first time I got it I had severe shooting pain in my hamstrings and calves, and leg numbness. It resolved after about one month, but I didn't do anything special beyond icing my lower back.
The second time I had difficulty standing for more than 30 seconds. Walking was ok. The disc at L5/S1 had ruptured and a piece was loose in my spinal canal. I was also diagnosed with stenosis, scoliosis, and listhesis - and overall disc degeneration. Lumbar disaster area......
The first surgeon would only do a fusion while removing the disc fragment. I got another opinion, and that surgeon did laminotomies at S1/L5/L4, no fusion. Basically, he drilled holes in the back of those veterbrae to make more space for the sciatic nerve, trimmed back some arthritis spurs, and removed the disc particle.
That was 15 years ago and I haven't had another occurrence of sciatica. I am in the gym everyday now and I do a lot of work for my core muscles. My current surgeon said if I develop sciatica again, he'll have to fuse some of the lumbar vertebrae, and probably S1. He did say that my very strong core is literally holding my lumbar spine together.
My suggestion - hire a PT and go through core exercises that you can make part of your weekly routine. Please clear this with your Dr first as I don't know the specifics of your case.
I'm 70 y/o and this has worked for me. I wish you all the best! (I also maintain a normal body weight for my height, and my percent body fat is around 20, right in the normal range.)
Joe
I couldn’t agree more and building up your core muscles is so essential for back health. Planks, crunches and leg lifts are just a few that come to mind. If you incorporate them into your daily routine and combine them with walking you will feel so much better over time.
It is actually fun to watch your core strength grow over time.
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3 ReactionsHad similar and steroid shot did not help me. Made me sick in fact, but back healed over time on its own.
I had those shots too and also have a panic disorder. when I was in my early 40's. I was put in twilight felt nothing till the numbing agent wore off. And then major pain the next day. Have it all lined up to have ice packs ready when you get home and the next day too. Then heat pad to get moving. I am now doing ablation.