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Originally Posted by CookieRocks
Wow! I really appreciate that. Thank you very much.
I'm in two minds to be honest; on the one hand its been such a long term problem, understandably I'm quite annoyed with it all and would prefer a long term fix. All the PT that I've done hasn't really helped, at times I think its made it worse, even when I've continued the exercises given to me as often as I can. I've also tried acupuncture which although a temporary relief, its not something that I'd continue on a long term basis.
In regards to the injections, I'll be honest and say I'm not a big fan of corticosteriod injections. I've had it done before, for a different issue and it wasn't too comfortable nor did give sufficient relief to my shoulder, so I'd most likely avoid that option. I think I am probably talking myself into surgery, or at least it sounds that way.
Taking all this into account, and should it be decided that surgery is the route that is taken, what sort of surgery would be done? I've heard of Discectomy and Laminectomy, would either of these be the procedure done?
Sorry if I've swerved left field now, I guess there are just many questions that pop into my mind.. recovery period..  
Once again many thanks for you help. |
Trust me I get what you are saying!! Just keep an open mind with regard to injections. Especially when comparing a directed epidural injection vs. shoulder injection. The shoulder is much more difficult and that injections isn't going directly to the offending nerve root. Secondly along with the steroid they usually use something like lidocaine or marcaine that will or should give instant relief for a very short time (like between 15 min to at most a couple of hours) this even without the steroid should be a strong confirmation that surgical intervention is warranted and will likely prove successful. With the spine and multiple issues you want to do the least invasive procedure in the right area and sometimes because it is difficult to pinpoint where the pain is coming from these prior to surgery treatments are necessary to properly diagnose and treat. Especially when there is some overlap of symptoms. Like in your case issues with L4/5 and S1 overlap but that certainly doesn't mean both areas need surgery.. so it would be a prudent decision to allow all pre surgical treatment recommendations to confirm what should and should not be addressed. I hope that makes sense.
Let us know how it goes with your appointment. And remember that the diagnostic workup is done to help protect you from misdiagnosis or the oversight of something else causing your pain prior to undergoing risky surgery.