I had a hospital appointment last week, it was the first follow up appointment regarding a scan I had in January. Its a long wait, and a long story. Anyway the Doc said he could give me a couple of injections in my spine to help control the pains I'm getting down my legs and my ice cold left foot. He also said they only work on 6 out of 10 people. He said its an old disc injury that has calcified and pushing on a nerve, plus wear and tear in other parts. Apparently the needle needs to go in 75mm, sounds a long way to me. So I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience of this, and did it work for you?
Our next door neighbours partner has had to have three lots of injections in his spine to help control his back pain and it took the full course of injections before he had improvement in his mobility. Another friend in our village has had two lots of injections in her spine and goes next month for the next lot and she is in considerable pain so they don't seem to have worked for her. The problem is Pete that what works for one spinal problem won't always work for the next person as it all depends I expect on what the problem is. I found when I had Cortisone Injections in the past it took several months before the problem solved its self whereas I was told without the injections it could take up to eighteen months for the problem to settle down. As I am not metric minded I have no idea what 75mm is but it sounds worrying. Good Luck and hope it all goes well for you
75mm is 3 inches Kandy. Hope all goes well with the spinal cortisone injections @pete . As you are aware any procedures on the spinal area does need careful consideration. My question on this is in a far less serious area , namely my gippy knee. If my current excercise regime has no results , I have been offered a cortisone injection . What are the pros and cons of this ? How long does it give relief for . What are the downsides of it ?
I had a knee done a couple of years ago at my GP surgery, it was painful, he hit a hard bit of the bone, but other than that it did help.
I should add, I'm not struggling, other than standing for long periods causes my legs ache and lifting is not easy, both of which I have to do at work. Walking long distances can sometimes be painful. Everyday tends to depend on what I was doing the day before.
@pete , sorry for the delay , missed your replies. So how long will your cortisone injection last for ? Can you keep repeating them ?
Well @HarryS , with my knee it was about three years ago, and not had to have it done again, mainly, I'm thinking because my back problem has now stopped me pushing things too far. For years I've always pushed myself, and I think in the last 10yrs or so its caught up with me. Knees still ache from time to time, but the back problem usually over rides it these days. I need to tell myself I'm not 40 anymore. As to cortisone injections, I think they can be repeated every 12 months or so, but the wear and tear continues, so its basically down to what you do to aggravate the problem aftewrwards .
