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lumbar epidural steroid spine injection

Spine Health | Last Active: Sep 11, 2023 | Replies (35)
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@ken82

I had Spine fusion 27 years ago.. L4, L5, S1.. the spine surgeon gave me epidural to make sure that his diagnosis was correct as to where the problem was.. after the epidural in the lumbar area he check me in 3 days... "did the shot help with the pain?".. yes, I answered.. he then told me that I would be able to tell him when I was ready for the fusion.. so within a few months I had the surgery and that lumbar problem was fixed.. 2 plates and 6 screws are still in there. A few years later I was having pain in the cervical area.. again the surgeon gave me epidural shot in that neck shoulder area.. but the pain killer aspect did not work.. the surgeon said, there is not a cervical problem.. you have cubical tunnel syndrome..that is a problem with the "crazy bone" nerve at the elbow.. so I went to a arm surgeon.. he did some tests.. sure enough... I had cubicle tunnel syndrome.. he did the out patient surgery.. and solved the problem of the pain shooting up the neck shoulder area, thanks to the epidural that did not work..

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Replies to "I had Spine fusion 27 years ago.. L4, L5, S1.. the spine surgeon gave me epidural..."
Jennifer, Volunteer Mentor | @jenniferhunter | Oct 28, 2022

@ken82 Your story illustrates how important it is to get the correct diagnosis because when you feel pain in a particular nerve, the problem could be anywhere along the pathway of the nerve. It gets very complicated when there is more than one problem or compression points on a nerve. In Cubital Tunnel Syndrome, the Ulnar nerve is compressed. It can also be compressed where it passes through the shoulder area before it gets to the arm in Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, and if a person has cervical spine issues, it can be affected there where that nerve leaves the spinal cord. That is why neurologists do their testing for nerve conduction speeds, and that is why a multidisciplinary medical center helps when they can refer patients for further testing to narrow down the choices for the diagnosis among different specialists.

I have TOS and had a cervical spine problem along with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. TOS was completely missed by the hand surgeon who did my Carpal Tunnel surgery and he blamed me for malingering because I still had pain. My hand was turning blue and purple and getting cold. I couldn't fake that. He took my pulse and told me I was fine. Then I found a thoracic surgeon who understood TOS. Many doctors miss it because they don't spend much time on it in medical school according to one of my neurologists. The best place to find specialists for TOS is at a facility that lists it as a condition they treat.

Here is a link about Cubital Tunnel
https://sportsmedicine.mayoclinic.org/condition/ulnar-nerve-cubital-tunnel/
Here is a link about Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS)
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thoracic-outlet-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20353988
This also brings up the reason why patients should ask questions of their doctors so the doctors explain how they know a diagnosis is confirmed, and why it isn't what they call a "differential diagnosis" which is something different that can produce the same symptoms.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

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