Having injections in the spine to take away the pain of sciatica.

[pdq1]

There are so many opinions of whether they work either from talking to individuals or in the press it leaves me flummoxed. What is the real picture?

[rsvp]

rather than ask on a q&a site I would advise you to take qualified medical advice - sticking a needle into one's spine is not something to be taken lightly - this is from one who has had it!

[vodkancoke]

I had sciatica. I ended up going for accupuncture which has calmed it down. I would either ask your doc or go to a physio.

[askyourgran]

A friend of mine used to have steroid injections for the arthritis pain in her back, she had them every 6 months at first then gradually she became more reliant on them and the 6 months became 4 months and so on until she had to have hip replacements. But they gave her ease for a few years until she had to have the operations.

[Kiki-frog]

I've had these, and in my experience they do give short-term pain relief. The theory as explained to me is that they give you a short time of being pain-free where you should try to build up your back and leg muscles, and thus reduce future pain. But as far as I'm concerned there's no way that they are a permanent solution or cure.

[pdq1]

The person who has the sciatica has seen a consultant and he has mentioned it as one of the remedies although not totally convincing. He also suggested an operation where a growth on the spine which is pressing on the sciatic nerve. Exercise does not help. Acupuncture was mentioned by a previous physiopherapist and maybe an avenue to pursue.

What are your experiences rsvp? I am not squeamish!

[jackthehat]

I had the injection and it gave about 18 months relief; not completely but made the situation more bearable.

Eventually, I had to have a micro-discectomy which pared away the part of the bulging disc pressing on the nerve.
That was just over 2 years ago. I am glad I had the operation.

[Kiki-frog]

I've had a related condition (sciatica symptoms due to nerve damage) for about 12 years now. You kind of learn to live with it. I am currently trying a course of acupuncture, which seems to have helped to a certain extent. But I don't think that any one treatment will work for everyone. It's worth giving acupuncture a go, though.

[rsvp]

I didn't have the treatment for sciatica - however I did ask many questions about inserting a large needle into my spine and on the basis of the information given me, decided to go ahead. I would add though that there were very definitely minus points to the procedure , one of them was that if it went wrong I could be paralysed- my take on things was that if things went well I'd have most of the problems solved, however if it went wrong, things could be nasty. All it all, in my opinion it came down to the skill of the person carrying out the procedure - I got a super star.

[jackthehat]

Is the sciatica caused by a boney-spur, or a bulging disc?

The operations to alleviate the cause are different. My Dad had a Laminectomy to remove the boney growth which was the cause of his pain.

[Kiki-frog]

That's a good question, Jack, as bulging discs will often right themselves in time. In which case, the injections would probably help ease the process. Did your dad's op alleviate the pain permanently?

[jackthehat]

Unfortunately, my bulging discs didn't right themselves and so the bottom line was the operation.
Although, at different stages I did get relief via acupuncture and the cortisone injection.

My Dad had the laminectomy and was substantially improved. He had it about 28 years ago and has had no real recurrence since that time.

[Sqad]

JTH is correct.......sciatica is a symptom and not a disease, hence the treatment is based on the diagnosis of which we have no idea of from your post.

Can't give an opinion without the diagnosis,but if the Consultant has suggested this form of treatment then I would assume that it would be appropriate.

[beso]

See a good osteopath. Most spinal problems start with imbalanced muscles pulling the spine out of alignment.