Spinal Injections for Back Pain- Why They Don't Work

[@snufflehound]

ESI's often do work and work well. I am a 73 year old very active male. I currently bike 90 miles a week, stretch daily, and do light weight training 3x/week. I have bulged discs at L4/L5 and L5/S1 and moderate spinal stenosis. Before ESI treatment I could not stand or walk 50 feet without severe left leg pain. PT made my pain worse. Gabapentin and Advil had no effect. Eventually I had two ESI's (one caudal, the other transforaminal) roughly 6 months ago. Today 100% pain relief during the day with a bit of residual evening leg achiness. Should the old intense pain return, I will definitely do this procedure again without hesitation. I doubt there is a permanent universal "cure" for chronic severe back problems. If you live long enough, sooner or later (hopefully later!) your spine will degenerate, a sad fact of life. At some point, medical science can offer only palliative care.

[@snufflehound]

Update a year later: I am now 74. The pain has never returned.

[@barbaracordero126]

My ("Epidural Steroid Injection") "ESI" worked right away. I am still pain free. I have a pinched nerve at L5. My pain was intense especially while climbing stairs, walking up or down an incline, standing from a seated position or getting in and out of the car. After dealing with the pain for about 6 months, I decided to try the "ESI" injection. It worked for me.

[@JeanineGenco]

Of course because he wants to make money. Glad your epidural worked

[@ackermanlawncare3959]

Got them 4 days ago and in worse pain then was before. On my 5th set

[@vegas7023]

Im thinking of filing malpractice complaint, because i had my first and i feel like shit!

[@iancarpenter6298]

just to give a unbiased view...ive had four lumbar epidurals...one today....they give me about four to five months relief from aweful pain...ime 67...so each to his and her opinion....ps no pain when they are done...and no side effects after...good luck and prayers to all in pain.ian.❤

[@paa5451]

I'm thinking I'm going to need an Epidural Steroid Injection. I thought they are very painful? But you had no pain when injected?

[@cortpeterson8772]

My injections have always worked. More then physical therapy physical therapy makes it worse for me.

[@stephanietaliaferro6711]

Had one 3 weeks ago for a bulging disc compressing sciatic nerve. Have been in constant pain since April. Shot has not helped, pain seems worse I believe the Dr hit a nerve.

[@RichardEaton-h2v]

It has on this side of the epidural viles not meant to be put into the spine!!!!!!! I think they are a danger you don't know if it can paralyze you or kill you that's what they told me it could do to me maybe because my back is so messed up

[@aaronmaloney8282]

I’m having an MRI scan on Saturday and I have been told I might be offered an epidural injection. I’m really not keen on any pharmaceuticals. Thanks for the video . 🇬🇧

[@JuanRamirez-xe6wr]

Don’t listen to him I had like 70 on my back they work miracles

[@samfish4007]

Well, no amount of physical therapy, exercises and movement will help when there is severe multilevel damage to the spine, vertebrae, disks and facet joints where any movement causes inflammation, swelling and nerve damage due to ongoing inflammation. I have degenerative disc disease and staying active has worked for a long time but not anymore. Now the only thing to keep the inflammation down is to move as little as possible till I get spinal injections because ongoing inflammation will do a lot of damage!!! Physical therapy has his limits and is not always the solution. I agree to try that first but don't deny that spinal injections are sometimes necessarily and can avoid further damage, excruciating pain or operations.

[@s.m.painter8808]

Agree

[@samfish4007]

@@s.m.painter8808 I'm glad you agree, no legitimate knowledgeable physiotherapist would say that inflammation is a good thing. Ofcourse in a lot cases exercises will help your backproblems and not in all cases spinal injections will help but there are a lot of different types of spinal injections and it's up to a good pain expert/anesthesiologist to determine what would work. I'll be getting to facet joint injections soon to determine if the pain is coming from there. But that's just the start maybe I need nerve block for more permanent solution or injections at other places as well. This guy only wants to make money of desperate people for whom injections didn't work. Instead of enriching him they should find another pain specialist and ask for different options. It's not always that the first injections are right. It might take a while. Backpain and the lication of it isn't straight forward.

[@s.m.painter8808]

I am in pain in the moment, yes I am exercising too. But the pain is terrible. Yes I will take the shot. No one deserve to hurt.

[@samfish4007]

@@s.m.painter8808 Best wishes yes it's horrible! am in a lot of pain as well for a year now, long waiting lists for the pain clinic due to Covid. I was on the urgent list for 6 months now 3 more months before I get the first shots and then hopefully build my life up again.

[@s.m.painter8808]

0 pain now. Continue to exercises.

[@afeudale]

You're misleading people with this video for self-promotion. ESI works for me. I have unbearable sciatica from L4/L5 bulge and the point of the steroid is to reduce the pain for long enough (4 weeks+) so you can move around more and let the body heal itself. Most sciatica will heal on its own in ~6 weeks, but if you're in agonizing pain in the meantime, your life is on pause. The injection allows you to live your life until your body does its own thing. Last injection I had was in 2018 and I was pain free until 2022 (4 years).

[@9agv728]

Not everyone’s body reacts the same way.

[@drawnhere]

Biased, much? 🤷

[@Eli-ts3ph]

I had an orthopedic surgeon warn against these steroid injections for my plantar fasciitis. She said it will destroy the fat pad that cushions the feet. One shot was ok, but more causes tissue damage. Imagine what it would do to the spinal collumn.

[@lax_mike11]

So hide the pain and do further damage? Sounds like a great plan

[@barbaracordero126]

Yes, exactly! ESI changed my life for the better!

[@JuanRamirez-xe6wr]

My lower disc got injected in 2001 every since it works fine

[@andino_usa3302]

I have L4-5 and L5-s1 herniated disc no pain but numbness of the left foot 🦶..and I don't want to get injection what should I do ?

[@CerealKiller1973]

Just had one two weeks ago and made my pain Worse. Radiculopathy sucks

[@حسين-خ7ب8ح]

How are you now? Is the pain removed?

[@montrelouisebohon-harris7023]

I've had pain doctors that did injections in my spine and it never really did me any good and then I went to see a doctor and they worked in physical medicine. They gave steroid injections but they were trigger point injections and that was the best pain management doctor I've ever seen.. boy did they hurt getting them but once the post injection soreness went away my back or my neck feels so much better for anywhere between a month to 2 months

[@KarenREmerson]

I know what you mean when getting the injections how bad they hurt when you're awake. They gave me a choice of being put to sleep or doing it awake faster and I chose doing it awake and it hurts severely

[@scotty90]

Can an injection help pain enough to help you do physico work

[@topneverstop]

I got injection 3 years ago after my accident in 2021 and now last night it might be catching up. I go to bend over i lost all control and dropped to my knees. I'm really concerned

[@RainbowGage]

My first and second round was easy for the injections but I felt like i did when the car accident first happened, I took a couple weeks off injections and I started to feel better, then I started to feel worse and I realized the injections did help. 3 and 4th round was fabulous. 5th round this morning and looking forward to the results of not feeling like I was beat up by a gang in my back and hips. (Warmth helps me, at least with my back numb I can fly to warmer counties and feel immortal again for a week or two)

[@terismith4512]

Do you work on the pirous Formus muscles

[@Alexchance-ni1ur]

Great explanation!! I was not aware of the healing phases whatsoever and it makes perfect sense why they DONT WORK! it almost sounds like i need more hip action going on 😅 to begin to alleviate some of the inflammation. Everyday struggles suck & knowing that youre going to wake up in pain is a bummer. Sadly, every dr i go to now tells me that basically all they can do to help me is give me a shot that i have told them does NOT work, maybe ill try chiropractor until God sends my Boaz to rock my boat a little. Hehe thanks for this video.

[@balkaur3979]

Hi I have had decompression and fusion of L4 and L5 done in 2005. I was left with some pain which I've been managing. From last year may 2003 I've been suffering from severe pains in my lower back. I've been told it's my si joint causing the pain, had a steroid injection in April this year . It didn't give me any relief. Pain is really bad it's like I'm sitting and sleeping on an injury. please help as I'm in agony.

[@glynwood6704]

I've personally done several of these, guessing 8 to 10 and none lasted more than 48 hrs ! Plus the soften bones over time ! Be careful with this !!

[@KarenREmerson]

I will be giving you a call also because I still have severe back pain I cannot walk without having to lean over or lean on something. For a trigger point injections also and I did do them awake so it would be faster and it is severely severely a lot of pain. And it also has to do with the facet joint beginning this all wrong in the order it goes but it all has to do with each other

[@briancooper2112]

Dr. Physical therapist?

[@TheBebelass]

Well, steroids worked for 6 weeks the first time, the next time around maybe 5 months later gave me more but mostly concentrated on the center of the spine which have not worked before they concentrated more on my bottom left and right side. of my lower back. I can't walk far at all as my legs won't let me even go up a very small slope on the ground it's like climbing a hill, can't sit for long. can't stand for all. Been on Oxycontin (small dose) now taken off it as they don't like you on it in Ireland, back on other meds, and wish to God they would just give me some relief

[@gabrielgabriel8908]

What about PRP injections?

[@pompanomike8704]

i heard they dont work for the spine and can be dangerous. this is coming from a spine doctor who sells PRP treatments. He mostly prescribes them for joins (knee, shoulder, etc). That;s what he said. That they dont work on the spine.

[@KarenREmerson]

I have scoliosis and bulging disc also the scoliosis seems to be getting a little worse over time and I also have deterioration of something I forget the name of it down there but I've also had steroid injections for the past 5 years I guess and I'm still getting them. They're going to be burning the nerves here shortly if the injections seem to work that they did they're going to go ahead and burn the nerves but you're right sometimes the steroid injections do not work this last one I had did work for a while and my right side but a lot of times they don't work at all but maybe for about 2 or 3 days when they're supposed to last for 3 months maybe. I'm sorry if some of these words or sentences don't seem right but it's this autocorrect.

[@thomastehan9477]

Spinal steroid injection saved my ass! Life got way better, fast.

[@WonkyWomanLife]

I would hate to have arachnoiditis

[@joellabrie-ki9bk]

Don’t want get arachnoiditis. With an epidural

[@provost5752]

They work great for me.

[@UnitGFC]

Bullshit, all the pain meds, pt exercises didn’t do shit first 8 weeks. Esi fixed it straight away and still pain free after 6 months, gave me relief to then start being more active. Btw I’m fit , healthy and not overweight

[@JuanRamirez-xe6wr]

I had like a hundred epidural injection don’t listen to this guy it works good perfect

[@kimberlybegonia2869]

Everyone is different dude

[@barbaracordero126]

He never explains why it does not work, he doesn't share any scientific evidence as to why it does't work. ESI worked for me!

[@JuanRamirez-xe6wr]

@@barbaracordero126 it works perfect trust me it’s worth it

[@pompanomike8704]

I woudl think injections don't work because the herniation is still there. Which is what caused the pain.

[@davegross4768]

Your wrong… my back condition will not heal. So inflammation only causes pain

[@Eli-ts3ph]

The inflammation is a symptom of a problem. The injections only help the symptoms, but not the cause. So you have to keep getting them.

[@daltonrul9692]

😂 mine worked just fine...stop lieing to people and stop trying to get more money in your pocket