KeithEugeneW

I have had those shots. They call them epidural steroid injections. They are not as bad as they sound. They numb your skin first with some kind of lidacaine or similar numbing medicine, kind of like novacaine. Then, while on a table in an operating room, they have a live x-ray TV screen on (called a fluoroscope), so that they can guide a longer skinny needle down into your cervical spine area close to where the spinal canal is and then inject a combination of cortisone and lidacaine. They will ask you before and after what your pain level is to see if it did much to help. You will go home in an hour or two, but they will make sure you have someone to drive you, because you are not supposed to drive or work that day. You will probably be a bit tired and sleepy the rest of that day, at least I was, and then for 2 or 3 days you will be a little sore from the shot, but then if the shot works for you, you will have less pain and numbness after that. They do a series of 3, about 2 weeks apart to see if that is going to help reduce the inflamation that is causing the problems with your numbness and/or pain. In my case, it didn't help. In others, it has. They say it is about a 50% success rate. On those that are successful, it can last from a month to a year or more, before repeating. If it keeps you from having to have surgery and takes care of your symptoms, then it's worth it. If this doesn't work, and nothing else they try works, then you will probably be looking at surgery for a permanent fix. Surgery is a last resort, unless there is a dangerous condition present that warrants going straight to surgery, like a severely compressed spinal cord or any nerve damage going on. They do lots of these shots all the time, so don't be too worried about them, after you get the first one you will say, heck, that wasn't a big deal at all.
Keith