Steroid injection
 

Hi all,
Recently diagnosed with cervical radiculopathy. "Large c6-c7 herniated disc with c7 and c8 nerve root involvement". It was docs impression that a piece of the disc is affecting c8. I have had trouble for years after a fall but in November fired a shotgun and woke up with severe neck pain and the next day numbness in right pinky. A week or two later severe right arm pain and burning from elbow to wrist. I have since had intermittent tingling in left foot and left hand. My MRI says spinal cord displacement posterior and to the left. Docs report (neurosurgeon) report says spinal cord isn't displaced. So why the other symptoms? At any rate the doc wants to do an epidural steroid injection. The thing is I don't have anything more than mild neck pain right now and the only lingering effect is the numbness in pinky and occasionally in left foot and left hand. My question is will (can) the injection help with the numbness? I understand any answer will only be opinion but I can't find an a answer to the question and all info I found says this is more a pain treatment than anything. The doc says it may bring down inflammation and help the numbness. Thoughts?

I have had the injection and my results were immediate. Lasted for almost 4 months, and I am slated for another one next week. It helped with my numbness as it calmed the nerve and took the swelling down and allow that nerve to be/act more normal. Best of Luck to you.

Thank you for the response, Sherry. I am scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and now have some hope. At this point I am hopeful as I have started to have some atrophy in am arm and hand.

I got the injection today. Way easy. Doc had to tell me he was done. I felt nothing but the initial pin prick for numbing. It seems as though I can feel a slight change in feeling in numb finger. I feel more numbness in my foot. Will just wait out the next few days to see if there is any change. Praying for relief on numbness.

Hi tquick,

Glad you got the injections. They are a first line non-invasive treatment for radiculopathy, along with physical therapy.

How are you doing now? For me, I have C6 radiculopathy with C4-C7 80% degenerated. I had two steroid injections over the period of a month. Neither really worked for me, so I'm taking more drastic action. However, I've talked with a lot of people who had the procedure and many say they've felt relief for 3-4 months after. Wish I was one of those!

Did the injection bring your numbness to an end?

I am scheduled for an injection on Friday. I've had some burning under my arm and numbness in index finger/thumb for about 6 weeks now and doctor said I have some "right foraminal stenosis" c6 and c7 and he thinks the shot will eliminate the numbness. I don't have a great deal of pain so wondering if I should "wait it out".

Glad to hear you didn't know he was done.. that's good!.. I am a little nervous

Sorry for the late response. The shot seemed to have only a slight impact on numbness for a few days and then nothing. Hopefully a better result for you.