The pain in my spine is getting to be what the doctors are calling acute pain. It is starting to cause pain and loss of movement in my arms and legs. So the doctor wants me to concidered something called nerve block. I look it up and this is what I found on it. Have any of you undergone this treatment. It is suppose to be a non steroidal injection. Here is the information I found. What do you think?
I've heard of them but don't much about them, Ina. My first concern would be what could go wrong. This site had some good info. There are many possibilities and people react differently to the nerve blocks. It may be something you have to get more than once, etc. http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2014/06/4-things-you-should-know-about-nerve-blocks/
Don't want to sway you in any direction, Ina but I probably would be afraid to do it. Unless I saw some very good numbers on the outcome of the procedure. Take a lookie over at SF, there is a reply that isn't too encouraging from someone who's had it done. I hope all the weaving isn't causing you more pain Ina....I know you enjoy it and want to give to the vets but you have to think about yourself also.
That nerve block is scary. Although I have no orientation with the medical field, any intrusion in the spine can cause paralysis. My former boss had a slipped disk. She said her lower back was so painful that she decided to have an operation. Fortunately, it was corrected. But before the surgery, the doctor said that her chances of full recovery is not 100% and there is also the chance of being paralyzed.
They did steroid shots in my spine in the early 80's, and then I was adviced to avoid them because I'd had so many of the shots. My upper and lower spinal MRI's in October told my doctor that I am not a candidate for surgery. My spine is crumbling. I watched my grandmother, mother, and a sister goes through the same condition. In the 60's and early 70's my mother went through two surgical procedures, and it only made her condition worse. My doctors are more than willing to prescribe heavy narcotics for me. They say my only option is to manage the pain level as best we can, but I don't want to be on narcotics forever. The doctor suggested I think and do a little research on the nerve block as one choice for testing. I am not seditary, but I am in pain all the time, even with the pain meds. They are trying to see which part of my spine is pinching which nerves to my arms and legs. So I did some reading, but I thought my peers might have had some knowledge not in the online reports.
This is a medical blind spot. They don’t ask what caused it or what does the body need to fix it. Your body uses pain to tell you that you have a problem and it wants you to fix it not covers it up. Steroids are another answer which is lets shut down the immune system so the body does not react like it should side effects Infection, allergic reactions, bleeding into the joint, rupture of a tendon, skin discoloration, weakening of bone, ligaments, and tendons (from frequent, repeated injections into the same area). Where do they come up with this logic? The medical answer is pain killers and replacing parts. If you have arthritis than you have arthritis all through your body but the part that has the most pain is the only one you notice. This is why people go in and have a knee replaced and a year or two get the other done and a few years later get the hip done. Pain killers have a use to temporary ease the pain while the problem is being fixed. Using a pain blocker without addressing the problem is crazy.
Ina I have had the Caudial epidural 3 times now in my lower back....it's very easy and quick procedure, and al;though initially it makes the pain worse eventually over a period of weeks the pain lessens more and more until eventually you become almost pain free...this can last from a few months to years... However, here's the rub..it doesn't work for everyone...and when I had my last one..last March initially the pain after 'surgery' was much more severe than it had been before the pain block (caudial epidural injection)...and it took much longer for the procedure to work..in fact it was July before I started to feel some relief from my lower back pain (double hiatal disc problem)...and then as Bad luck would have it I fell off some ladders at work and undid the whole procedure...and cracked my coccyx into the Bargain.. Anyway you don't want to hear my story...but if I were you..knowing what I know, and having gone through it 3 times, I would say , go ahead, it'll work or it won't. but either way you'll be no worse off.. and hopefully you'll reap the benefit like so many other folks ..
The spacing between the vertebras in the spine is maintained by the discs if they get close you have pinched nerves sometimes it causes pain but others it just causes your organs to miss function like A-fib Most people that had this problem are a little shorter than they were when they were young. You need to rebuild the discs. What are the discs made of is cartilage. I have helped many people with information to reverse this problem one gentleman who was a weight lifter he was the trainer in the gym he went to the doctor that told him he would have to give up weight lifting and he used blockers for the pain. Now he is back lifting weights without pain his father had a similar problem and this information also help him.
I had 2 hip replacements and in both cases, I was given a pain blocker in the hospital shortly after the operation.. This was to prolong the freezing so I can heal faster and have almost NO pain after surgery.. The pain blocker that was given only lasted for 2 days but I think what you are asking about is a different type.. I can say that in my case, I am glad I took it.. No side effects at all but like I said, it was given only to last 2 days, and not more.... I would say to you that if you are in severe pain and your quality of life is being affected, then try it as you can't lose.. Either it works or it doesn't but if you don't take it, for sure it won't help you.......
@Steve North , Thank you, your last sentence makes a lot of sense. I guess my fear comes from procedures done when I was a child. I'm trying to convince myself that in the last 55 years things have advanced so that this kind of procedure isn't as harsh as they use to be. My doctor told me there was a small chance that it could cause me more problems, and before a year ago I always knew I had my husband or sons to count on if things went wrong. Now I must concider what I will do if things do go wrong. Where I might end up if I can't take care of myself or my home. My memory of big long needles in the spine have never left me, and at the age of nine children seem to exaggerate those things.
Is there someone that can come and help you out if you do get the procedure? No matter what the outcome, I'm sure the first few days will be hard as they are after most procedures.
@Chrissy Page , I hadn't even given that a thought, so I don't know what I'll have to do. Maybe I could get one of my grandsons to come stay awhile. Now I need to figure out what will be the most expensive, a nurse to come into my home, or the cost of whatever the grandson will want to stay here. He will come if I spend a couple of days sanitizing my home, (although it's always clean, I would still have to pay someone to do it, because I can't wax the walls myself right now), and he will not eat any foods that others eat. It all has to be 'special' food just for him. This is not going well!!!!
I feel for you, Ina. Nothing goes easily or smoothly when you are a woman alone. Id be screwed if I needed an operation right now, I can't afford a nurse and nobody could even come here. Guess my choice would have to be to have the operation by my daughter and either she could hire someone to help me while they work. Depends on the seriousness of the surgery too.