My back is shot. I went and had an MRI on my back and it turned out that I have four, count them, four back problems in my 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae. I was absolutely freaked out since the "cure" is to shoot steroids in one's spinal Fluid and hope it works. I'm not doing that. The really bad thing is that one vertebrae through which my spinal cord runs is narrowing. That worries me because I can lose control of both bladder and bowels sometime in the future. That would be embarrassing. I also have narrowing in the little holes the nerves come out on the sides, and I have a bulging a disk along with something else that the doc didn't make clear. My back has been hurting for about a year. One of my students had back problems about the same time mine started. She had surgery, and it turned out she had two bone spurs, one sticking right into her spinal cord. She's getting better now, but mine can't be fixed. One of my friends said that at least I was losing weight and that should help. I hope so. I intend to starve from now on. The apparent alternative solutions is steroids which run my blood sugar up and taking a lot of hydrocodone. So I'm doomed to be a drug addict.

Has anyone else had these problems? What did you do about it?

BOH....

I had two herniated disks, plus stenosis (the "narrowing" you mentioned). It was very painful and got steadily worse over a period of several years. Eventually there was just nothing left where the disks had been.

I tried steroids, anti-inflammatory drugs, and pain killers. I did physical therapy and three series of facet injections (9 injections total). I finally consented to back surgery.

I am now fused from L4 to S1. Plus he did a bi-lateral laminectomy to relieve the stenosis. It's a long and painful recuperation, but at the end of the day, I am glad I had it done.

I had unrelenting pain and am now virtually pain free. Find yourself the best neurosurgeon in your area and pay him a visit.

I've been reading this board for a while, but this is my first post and it's funny this would be the topic that caught my eye. I'm actually laying on my couch recuperating from those very steroid shots. I went in this morning to the local ASC and received the first of the series. It really wasn't that too traumatic of an experience, at least nothing like that crazy MRI, which sent me in to a mild panic attack. :omg:

I feel a little sore and kind of weak at this point, but I was in so much pain previously, that this is nothing. The doctor told me in advance that these are expected reactions, so I'm not worried. He said this should pass in the next day or two and I should start feeling much better within 48 hours.

I think the biggest problem is the bruise left from the IV line. The nurse had some trouble starting the needle and now I've got a black/blue bruise bigger than a quarter. I've got bad veins, unfortunately I'm also a bleeder once it gets started.

I'll try to keep you posted on how it's feeling after a week. But right now - all things considered, I really can't complain.

God, I'm terrified of those steroid injections. My doc said they last from 2 to 6 weeks and I'm not willing to have them that often. I went to physical therapy and it helped a lot. My back quit hurting all the time. Lately, I've been bad about doing the exercises, but if my back starts hurting, I'm only too willing. I couldn't believe physical therapy helped that much. I love those stretches.

I am a nurse and worked for 6 years at a pain center, where they did the steriod injections among other procedures.

Other posters have given you an idea of what to expect in terms of the actual procedure, and I want to assure you that these are safe, and a good, conservative measure to undergo before you consider surgery. Not everyone gets relief from the injections, but the beauty of the injection is that it doesn't change the pathology of your back if it doesn't work (like surgery would).

And if you do have good pain relief from the injections, well, WAAALAH! no surgery, and the risks associated with it!