My Epidural Steroid Injection

For some time now I have been experiencing debilitating pain in my lower back, hip and right leg, and an MRI scan revealed that I have a rather nasty extruded disc. After consulting with a pair of pain specialists, I decided to go the route of trying an Epidural Steroid Injection, which is basically the use of a large needle to inject a steroid into the direct area of the extruded disc in order to reduce inflammation and hopefully eliminate the pain.

Well, this morning I ventured down to the Mountain Home, Tennessee V.A. Hospital where they performed the procedure, and I must say that it went quite well. All things considered, the numbing of the area and the steroid injection itself weren’t nearly as painful as I had expected them to be, and by the time they wheeled me back to the recovery room 100% of the pain in my hip and leg was gone.

At first I thought the relief might be due to the numbing medication they had injected, but now that most of the effects of the anesthesia have worn off, the pain has still not returned. The doctors who performed the epidural injection said that any relief the steroids provided could last anywhere from a few months to the rest of my life. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and praying for the latter.

Of course my lower back is pretty sore thanks to a bunch of puncture wounds from the needles, but even that pain isn’t as bad as I had expected. So far everything is just peachy, but I’ll post a follow-up in a few weeks after I am better able to determine the effectiveness of the treatment. For now, I would appreciate it greatly if you would pray on my behalf that the relief will be complete and long-lasting.