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Epidural Injections
I have seen many people post that they have had no success with epidural steroid injections. I was just wondering of those who have had little to no success:
1. Was your injection done by an anesthesiologist?
2. Was it done by guided fluoroscopy?
3. Was in done under some sort of sedation?
I have been going to pain management clinics for about 6 years now. I have has wonderful relief from these injections. They are a TEMPORARY relief to the PERMANENT problem of chronic pain. They are temporary though. They can last as little as a week or as long as a year. They are used to relieve an acute problem for a time period to get me through until my medication works better or allow my PT to help correct the problems. I was told even with guided fluoroscopy the injection can miss the perfect target but still give some relief. My doctor is well trained and has done several on me and I always get some sort of relief. I have even gone into his office and begged for them because they work so well. But like he told me they are part of my over all plan to attack my pain and work to get me through a crisis of pain until I can get back to exercise. They are not a miracle cure and there is no miracle cure presently for my chronic pain. I keep positive and through his plan and my cooperation, education, medication and willingness to follow his plan to the extent, I do feel better. If only for a temporary time, I take the temporary time.
I'm just wondering if those of us who have found success with them are getting a better injection, better treatment or if it is all by the grace of God a lucky shot.
What do you think? I'm curious to hear.
Thank you for this site to post and ask questions. It has helped me in just this one day of reading and posting.
❤️Bekie
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Can Bekie or anybody tell me what sort of physical therapy their doctor prescribed? My doctor has not prescribed physical therapy. I have L4/L5 lower back pain with right sciatic pain. Injections have greatly helped, but you mentioned your real fix is physical therapy. Mine real fix is to have surgery remove my existing cyst.
Hello everyone,
First, Dr Payne at Mayo is incredibly good. Next:
Has anyone had hypermobility in the cervical spine? If so, how was it treated?
Has anyone had success with cervical interlaminar injections, or spinal cord stimulators?
Has anyone found methods to strengthen their neck muscles without causing extreme pain? I have worked with PTs for months and it has failed. I cannot lift my head off the ground without causing severe pain.
About me: After a massive ski accident, I had an artificial disc put in, which failed. Then I had c3-6 fused by the world's leading c-spine surgeon Dr Dan Riew in NYC, which only helped 20%. Then rhomboid re-attachment surgery. It took 15 months to lift more than one pound. I have tried nearly all treatments that exist but still have no life or work.
Any suggestions are welcome. Cheers!
Talk to your doctor about getting a DNA test for medications. I got a DNA test at Mayo. I have a mutation in CYP2D6 that prevents drugs like percocet and vicodin from working on me, at all. My body does not metabolize them, period. Ask your dr about this.
Ask your dr about getting a DNA test for medications. I did at Mayo and found I have a mutation that blocks drugs like percocet and vicodin from working at all on me.
@jwlibbey I wanted to welcome you to Connect. While I don't have answers for you about strengthening your neck, I do know that the skull weights about 12 pounds and that is a lot to lift when laying down if your neck is very weak. Can you do a similar exercise on an incline or starting with standing against a wall, and progressively changing the angle of incline? It sounds like your injury was serious, and has a very long recovery time. I am a spine surgery patient too, but just with a C5/C6 fusion. I had more trouble from fracturing my ankle badly and I'm still trying to strengthen that without stressing the ligaments.
Are you under the care of a rehab doctor now? What has been the recommendation?
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1 ReactionMayo does that test ? Does Ins pay for it. Do you know name of test codes etc.
I am a senior aged female. Six months ago, pretty bad daily neck pain started on the left side that goes up my head to my ear and also out my shoulder. I cannot bend my head side to side or backwards without pain. Sleeping at night makes it worse so mornings are the worst. Moving around makes it less painful.
An MRI and CT scan show nothing extraordinary.
A pain management doc has tried a facet joint injection, a medial branch injection, an epidural injection, and an occipital nerve injection. None worked.
An orthopedist suggested that it could be at the atlanto-occiptal joint area or could be related to occipital neuralgia because I have a long history of migraines.
Does anyone have any experience with a diagnosis that addressed pain emerging from the atlanto-occipital area or any treatment for it?
@docb99 Welcome to Connect. I am a spine surgery patient. I recently was communicating with another member who is discussing C1/C2 instability and thought you may want to look at these discussions.
In these 2 discussions member, @debbiepinkston59, discusses her son's issues with C1/C2 instability.
Bicep atrophy due to C5 nerve root compression
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/bicep-atrophy-due-to-c5-nerve-root-compression/
Cervical myelopathy caused by herniated disc at C4-6 level
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/784668/
Also there is discussion here where you may connect with other members:
Cervical Neck Instability
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/cervical-neck-instability/
I get similar symptoms because of muscles spasms that happen on one side of my neck. I also have thoracic outlet syndrome that makes my neck too tight on one side, so it sometimes twists C1 & C2 independently which stretches the occipital muscles on the back of the head causing migraine type pain, but I don't have migraines. A physical therapist who also does myofascial release has helped a lot. You may want to look through this discussion about MFR. You can do this PT even without a specific diagnosis because the PT can feel the pathways of tight tissue with their hands.
Myofascial Release Therapy (MFR) for treating compression and pain
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/
Have you heard about MFR before?
Hello Jennifer
I appreciate the response. I will review the links you provided.
I have had success in the past using dry needling for myofascial pain relief that has arisen intermittently over the years from a herniated disk in 2012. The issue with my neck is not the same and started in July. It
I am awaiting a response from the orthopedist regarding a prescription for PT. I am a college professor and have a colleague in the PT program whose work focuses on cervicogenic issues. He has offered to complete a PT evaluation without a diagnosis. Once I obtain the PT script and when the new semester starts in January I will schedule that evaluation
The orthopedist suggested that the MRI and CT imaging results don't provide an adequate reason for an O-C1 injection and noted that they can be somewhat risky.
Thank you.
@docb99 Spine issues do cause muscle spasms and when you do dry needling, the action of inserting the needle releases the stored electric charge that is causing the spasm. Fascia also conducts electricity and sometimes releasing it releases some energy. My PT tells me that sometimes she feels zaps in her fingers when working on me.
A similar modality that does not involve needles is a Dolphin Neurostimulator in which a therapist sends a charge between 2 handheld devices. There is a setting to interrupt the neurotransmitters in the pain signals and when my PT did that (before spine surgery), I was able to get pain relief for about a week. She was holding the devices across the nerve roots in my neck.
I had one epidural injection done below C5/C6 as a diagnostic, and the anesthesiologist who did that told me never to allow a doctor to do an epidural above that level because it is too risky. With the nerves that control breathing and heart functions emerging from the spine, a poorly done injection could affect a vital body function. The base of the skull and C1 junction is delicate, and even tipping the head backward in a sink at a beauty salon can cause a stroke or clot to form.
Instability causes one vertebrae to slip past another and essentially, it narrows the spinal canal doing that. If there is already some stenosis in the canal, it can affect that even more. I'm glad you have a PT spine expert, and hopefully that helps or holds off surgery for awhile. It is worth asking for what a spine expert might predict would be the course of the spine disease without intervention, and when an optimal window would be to fix something if that is in your future. You don't want to rush into surgery, but sometimes people wait too long, and then have permanent nerve damage. I tracked my symptoms on a drawing on the body and dated the drawings so I knew how fast it was progressing. That helped me know when the time was right for spinal cord decompression surgery.
I hope you'll stay in touch and let me know how your PT is going.
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