Arthritis in Luumbar Spine

You do realize these injections are considered experimental across the world but a money maker for orthopedic docs who inject it since it’s all cash. Glad you received some help with your knees. Steroid injections are the usual medications that are given for lumbar arthritis. At your age (my age also) lumbar arthritis is common. If you haven’t done PT yet for your back I recommend trying that first.

Many meniscus tears can be medically ignored. My son, for example, tore one skateboarding and never had surgery and at age 40 still skateboards. PT can be helpful for the meniscus tear. So recovery from that without surgery does not prove a lot.

My MRIs (I have had many) show significant spinal and lumbar stenosis. For years my neurologist has been puzzled that I did not have pain from it. Then, suddenly, at the beginning of 2025 it started radiating pain down both legs.

It took a while but eventually a really good pain doctor gave me an epidural steroid injection and I have been pain free for sixteen months. Fingers are crossed.

In the meantime my neurologist referred me to a neurosurgeon who specializes in minimally invasive spinal surgery (he has written a primer on how to do it for other surgeons). We have a deal. When the shots stop working I call him.

BTW...I am 81 YO with a new left hip (5 years ago), a new right knee (eleven months ago) and I am currently rehabbing from endoscopic carpal tunnel surgery.

Good luck but make sure that your backup neurosurgeon is excellent. I suspect that you may need her.

I am 68 years old, have had 15 back surgeries, am fused L3-S1, have arthritis in all my lumbar facets (worse at L2/3 now), and have severe stenosis at L2/3. I have had numerous steroid injections, both epidural and facet, and have basically had zero relief. That said, I agree with the other two comments that steroid injections are the first line as they do help many people. The good thing about them is that they are both diagnostic and therapeutic because they include both lidocaine and the steroid. The lidocaine will numb the area injected, and if your pain stops, they know that they are in the correct spot for the pain. The steroid then will hopefully start reducing pain in 2-7 days with full effect in up to two weeks. Another good thing about the injections is that the steroid is localized and very little of it goes systemic so no steroid side effects vs oral steroids that are systemic. Be sure to tell the doctor if you have osteoporosis as steroids decrease bone density. Again, because the steroid is localized, the occasional injection is fine, but repeated injections can cause a temporary dip in bone density. Finally, if the lidocaine stopped your pain but the steroid did not, consider radiofrequency ablation where they burn the tiny nerve that feeds the facet. The lidocaine proved that is where your pain is, so the ablation has a very good chance of helping your pain. The drawback is that the nerve grows back, typically in 6-12 months but the range can be 3-24 months, and you have to repeat the procedure.

Good morning everyone, Epidural injections are something I have had both neutral and bad experiences with when trying to stop the pain I have had in my right oblique and flank muscles over the past three years. These muscles have been continuously locked/spasmed since July of 2023, and no one (doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, PT techs, hip specialists, spine specialists, etc., etc) has any idea why they will not release.

I have had three Epidural injections for my spine, the first two (about a year and a half apart, Feb 2024 and Aug 2025) were at the T12-L1 area of my spine, and the third one was in February of this year at the T11-T12 area of my spine.

The first two did not do anything, did not make it worse, but did not improve anything either. The third injection I had back in February at T11-T12 was very painful during the Epidural (never felt anything with the first two), and to this day (Sep 21, 2026), I have been in more pain than I was in before the Epidural.

The doctor had stated the day of the Epidural that hopefully the pain I experienced meant he was in the right area. However, as I stated, whatever the Epidural did, it did not hit the right area, as it has caused me more pain that no one can help me with. I've been to (5) hospitals and have seen more than (30) doctors in all different disciplines, and every one of them has given up anywhere from the first visit to several visits with them. They literally tell me they have no idea what is wrong, and they walk away without any suggestions for who to see, or what to try, next.

This information needs to be included in any discussions regarding Epidurals, just like when having surgery, you are informed of all of the possible adverse effects ahead of time. Epidurals can leave you worse off than you were, which includes possible nerve damage and / or breathing difficulties, and like my, in more pain than you were before the procedure.

@steveinarizona
Tku ..very good info.
Pray tell what /who /which ..details.... of "neurosurgeon specialising in minimally invasive spinal surgery"
That wd be helpful if i knew what surgety...
Tku in advance..

@jcoleary
Tku..again very good info...much appreciated..Tku soo much.
All info is being collected and will imform me to make ( hopefully) my decision on which Course to pursue, moving forward.

@judaline

To Steven inarizona.... sorry after re-reading your response thru again...I got the answer. Tku

@steveinarizona

Tku...after re-reading ..i got the answer I asked earlier

@jenatsky I disagree that epidural steroid injections are considered experimental in the US and around the world. They are technically an off-label use of steroids because the FDA has not approved them for epidural injections but still they are widely used, help many people and are covered by most major health insurance companies.

Just to be sure, I Googled whether they are experimental. Below is the response:

No, lumbar steroid injections are not considered experimental in the United States or around the world. They are among the most widely utilized and standard medical procedures for managing chronic lower back and radicular pain (such as sciatica). However, there is a common point of confusion regarding their official regulatory status and insurance guidelines:The "Off-Label" Status in the U.S.In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not explicitly approved corticosteroids for epidural injection, and requires a warning on the drug labels regarding potential rare, severe neurological risks. Because of this, administering a lumbar epidural steroid injection (ESI) is technically an "off-label" use of the medication. Off-label prescribing is a legal, extremely common, and standard practice in medicine. It simply means a drug is being used for a purpose or via a route of administration not explicitly listed on its original FDA approval label. It does not mean the procedure is experimental or unproven. Insurance and Medical NecessityMajor U.S. health insurance providers, including Medicare and private carriers like UnitedHealthcare, routinely cover lumbar steroid injections. Insurance companies do not cover experimental treatments; they cover ESIs because they are recognized as standard care, provided specific clinical criteria are met: Documented Diagnosis: The patient must have a clear condition causing nerve root compression or inflammation, such as a herniated disc or spinal stenosis. Conservative Care Trial: The patient must typically fail to find relief from at least 4 weeks of conservative treatments, such as physical therapy or oral anti-inflammatories. Image Guidance: The procedure must be performed using fluoroscopy (X-ray) or CT guidance to ensure precise delivery and safety. Note: While the injections themselves are standard, certain techniques—such as performing them under ultrasound guidance rather than standard X-ray—may still be classified as investigational or experimental by some insurers. International StatusGlobally, lumbar steroid injections are accepted as a standard, frontline interventional pain management tool. Major international guidelines—including those in Europe, Canada, and Australia—support their use for short-to-medium-term relief of radicular leg and back pain, allowing patients a window of relief to participate in physical therapy and potentially delay or avoid spinal surgery. While their placement in standard care pathways is universally recognized, medical societies worldwide continue to debate their long-term efficacy compared to conservative care alone, keeping their recommended use tightly focused on targeted, short-term pain management rather than a permanent cure.

@jcoleary you may have misunderstood my post or I wasn’t clearer. PRP injections have not been found to be effective anywhere in clinical studies. I was not referring to epidural injections alone only PRP.