Anyone had a steroids injection in the spine? I have several inj in my hip, and other parts and they were moderately painful. They make it sound like I am having a sugery with all the ??'s they asked. Just wondering, any help would be great. I go in on thursday/10th.
Had a steroid injection in C6/C7 10 days ago. He used a novacaine like anesthetic, making the injection of the steroid just about pain free. However, I had hoped for more relief; probably will need at least 1 more injection.
No need to fear the injection; it's practically painless. From the time the nurse took me to my little cubicle to get in to the gown, got the injection, redressed, until the time I was ready to leave was 35 minutes. Not a wasted minute there.
I had a spinal epidural also and did have immediate relief of pain that lasted about 2-3 months. However, I had a reaction to the steroid and am no longer a candidate for any additional epidurals. I would do it again if I could stand the medication.
Thanks you all for the help. Iwasn't too worried about pain as i had them elsewhere. They told me not to eat anything after midn for my 7:30am appt and I need driver. Just seems alot more prep than previous injecton, Oh well.pn
It seems they're planning on giving you an IV with some sedative like Versed or Valium, hence the no food restriction. I didn't have an IV, but still had to have a driver. It was a good thing because I was dizzy for a couple of hours, but I don't know why as I had no sedative other than the novacaine.
Good luck and I hope you get some relief.
I've found that different doctors prep differently. My prior PM doctor did the "no eating after midnight" rule and gave me conscious sedation (versed and fentanyl). My new PM doctor only says "eat a very light meal" in the morning. So usually I just do a small granola bar or yogurt just so I have something in my system (I just can't go without eating something in the morning).
Thanks again Nancyco and AZspine. I agree with you AZspine, I can't go without eating something in the morning either but I guess I'll make do. Painfulneck
Yes, you will have a sedative such as Versed and probably won't remember the procedure. Any time they do an invasive type procedure (they are putting a needle in your spine) they usually have an IV going and as I have to premedicate for any procedures, they give me an antibiotic. The Versed is also given IV. They will probably tell you to lie down for the day and not do anything strenuous as you can leak CSF from the puncture site (rarely) and they want to ward off a spinal headache. It is about the same as having a myelogram in prep and aftercare.
Yep, sounds like conscious sedation. I have had 3 ESI's. The last one helped. Two I can't remember with the conscious sedation. The other one was a nerve root injection w/o the sed. and on an inflamed root. I will never do that again! I had one in the back and two from the front. It is very individual as far as relief goes as you can tell with all the other replies. I hope it helps, please update. matt
Thanks all for help and advice on my injection. I ended up having a triggerpoint injection in my trapezis( I know I don't have that word right). My muscle in the shoulder. He said I have some degenerative disc disease, but injected here believing the muscle is cause of most of my other sympoms. I was doing ok til today when I was hanging ornaments with my son. I started spasms back there that were getting pretty severe til I medicated and iced it.
Hopefully this will give me some relief. painfulneck
I wanted to mention that I use "Lidoderm Patches" that are prescription topical analgesic that works well on muscles in shoulder and back for spasms. You can leave on for 12 hours and they do seem to help with the pain and tension felt from the spasms. You might want to mention to your doctor about using. They are pricey but I actually cut them in half as they are rather large size and it is okay to do so. I was told I could wear up to three at a time and have done so when I really hurt! At least it is a temporary measure that bridges in between injections that seems to work well.
Re: Steroid injections in spine 
