Spinal injections - not epidural.

pipkin71

kaya wrote: »

my reason for not having it done was meeting a friend of my mums who walked into hospital , had the injection and has been in a wheelchair since

That's worrying, kaya

On one hand, I'm already using the wheelchair at times, on the other to be permanently in a chair now, rather than later is scary.

qwertyuiop12345

Thank you for the reply McKneff, as Pipkin said, it is great to here such a positive experience.

The problem I have with my back is that I herniated several of my lumbar discs, probably because I was quite weak and run down from other health problems and have spent a lot of time bed bound in the last few years (I have Leukaemia).

Since the initial herniation, I seem to keep having this happen again for very little reason (such as sitting slightly awkwardly). As I understand it my discs are now weakened in some way so will herniate very easily.

Most of the time my back is fine, but when it goes it is agony!

Pipkin - I hope the injections go well for you, please keep us updated on how you get along.

pipkin71

qwertyuiop12345 wrote: »

Thank you for the reply McKneff, as Pipkin said, it is great to here such a positive experience.

The problem I have with my back is that I herniated several of my lumbar discs, probably because I was quite weak and run down from other health problems and have spent a lot of time bed bound in the last few years (I have Leukaemia).

Since the initial herniation, I seem to keep having this happen again for very little reason (such as sitting slightly awkwardly). As I understand it my discs are now weakened in some way so will herniate very easily.

Most of the time my back is fine, but when it goes it is agony!

Pipkin - I hope the injections go well for you, please keep us updated on how you get along.

I suffer with prolapsed discs aswell qwertyuiop, most likely due to the weakness in my spine.

As you say, when they go, they are really painful, and any slight movement can cause it. Previously, I had a lamenectomy and partial lamenectomy, but it didin't bring about relief. There are times now when I have spinal compression which leads to various problems, and excrutiating pain. Add to that the other issues I have and my back is a complete mess :eek:

The option of a fusion has been talked about, but hard to say what relief that would give.

My first appointment for the injections is the 28th Jan. I am nervous, as I don't know what to expect and not entirely sure what they are as I wasn't in a composed enough state at the consultation. Maybe my GP will know

If I knew what the injections were, I could read up on it. I've heard of botox injections, cortisone injections, but not sure what these will be. I know it isn't a cure, but it is hoped they will bring about pain relief.

Thanks everyone for your own experiences ect. It's appreciated

geoff11

im having what i think is called a sympathetic nerve block injection in my lower spine in january, does anyone know anything about this procedure?, appara

ntly you can only have one of these injections and thats itm after that its surgery, i have two bulging discs in my lower spine which causes leg numbness and pain in my legs.

pipkin71

geoff11 wrote: »

im having what i think is called a sympathetic nerve block injection in my lower spine in january, does anyone know anything about this procedure?, appartantly you can only have one of these injections and thats itm after that its surgery, i have two bulging discs in my lower spine which causes leg numbness and pain in my legs.

Did they say you have to lie flat whilst having it done and need to lie still for a couple of hours?

That's what I was told. I'm having an injection in January, but no idea what

I hope whatever you have, does help, geoff.

zee_2

looking at previous answers all different,I had injection ,first had local in hospital x-ray type room ,then surgeon did main injection ,no pain then at all , about 36 hours later I felt that someone had kicked me with steel toe cap boot, I had collapsed discs and after waiting about 14 month and on 50ml. of oral morphine [ a day 5x10 mil .],had spine fusion of 4 lower vertabrae, stopped most of pain but now restricted how far I can bend ,if I try to bend further ,left in pain for a couple of days , found out later reading in daily mail about my type of problem ,there is private op.which inserts new type of disc instead of bone graft
and is far far better ,I think it costs in region of £8000 but that is you cured for rest of life , if I had known , Iwould have raised money somehow instead of struggling for rest of life.

geoff11

pipkin71 wrote: »

Did they say you have to lie flat whilst having it done and need to lie still for a couple of hours?

That's what I was told. I'm having an injection in January, but no idea what

I hope whatever you have, does help, geoff.

hi, belive it or not i havent beent old nothing about before or afterwards, i was given a leaflet but it tell you nothing other than people cant stay with you as its a day case ward and that i have to ring the day before to be told if i go in am or pm, it does say i will have to stay for up to four hours while they see everythings ok. the one im having is to numb a block of six nerves in the lower spine known as the ganglion i belive, if it works itll put these nerves to sleep so they stop transmitting pain signals to my brain that my legs lol, they arent supposed to transmit pain signals, but for some unkown reason they sometimes switch on and transmit the pain signal to the brain. what worries me is if they put them to sleep what happens if say one of my discss is going to herniate?, could cause me alssort of problems. you should contact the hospital and ask what type your having damn sure i would, let me know how it goes and ill post after mines done. i assume ill have to lie flat, a surgeons doing it under x-ray conditions with dye to highlight said block of nerves.

geoff11

zee wrote: »

looking at previous answers all different,I had injection ,first had local in hospital x-ray type room ,then surgeon did main injection ,no pain then at all , about 36 hours later I felt that someone had kicked me with steel toe cap boot, I had collapsed discs and after waiting about 14 month and on 50ml. of oral morphine [ a day 5x10 mil .],had spine fusion of 4 lower vertabrae, stopped most of pain but now restricted how far I can bend ,if I try to bend further ,left in pain for a couple of days , found out later reading in daily mail about my type of problem ,there is private op.which inserts new type of disc instead of bone graft
and is far far better ,I think it costs in region of £8000 but that is you cured for rest of life , if I had known , Iwould have raised money somehow instead of struggling for rest of life.

you can get plastic
discs inserted with the nhs but youll have to find a hospital in your locality that does it, most harvest hip bone it costs them nothing lol.

pipkin71

geoff11 wrote: »

i assume ill have to lie flat, a surgeons doing it under x-ray conditions with dye to highlight said block of nerves.

I've had the injections where they inject a dye into your spine and look at your back with x-rays. I think it's called a myelogram. You have to lie flat with that for a few hours as it can cause severe headaches.

That did highlight a few problems and they offered an epidural, but I couldn't go through with that.

The myelogram was uncomfortable - and in some parts quite painful, but it did help the surgeon see what problems there were.

geoff11

they dye in my case i belive is to highlight those nerves, they know the problems as ive had several mri scans, oh well well just have to see how it goes, ill let you know mines on the 5th whens yours?.