Epidurals
 

Does anybody know if Epidural injections are FDA approved ? Heard a rumor they are not..thanks

do you mean epidural steroid injections into the spine? if so yes theyve been doing them for years....pal pete

yes but according to dr Oz they are not

Typically insurance companies only pay for procedures
that are "proven" effective:

Here is an example:
https://www.unitedhealthcareonline.c...pinal_Pain.pdf

I seen that too---that OZ was saying is the steroid medicine is approved and shot are approved muscles and joints but the procedure for injections in the spine is not FDA approved. Like Mrs D showed almost all insurance companies will pay for them because it less invasive and costly then spinal surgery. I know its sounds bit ambiguous----but IMHO alot/most things are driven by cost savings. Its not illegal to do them-- is just considered off label use.

This article goes into quite a bit of history and detail:

http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/70/4/433.full


This paper explains the off label use of steroids in epidurals:
http://www.bmj.com/content/328/7455/1509?tab=responses

Thanks for the article

I have family and friends have them with great success. Im not against them at all !!! Personally surgery should always be a last resort. Anytime injection goes in the spine there are risk involved --there lots of risks with surgery period. When you go for ESI--you sign consent forms being informed of all the risk and complications. Personally again I would opt to try them before risking surgery but in my case it was not even a option offered for my neck because my disc were all pressing on spinal cord.

epidurals
 

thanks everyone and thanks for the great articles ...

dr oz article