Highlighted in RED some things that mention Epidurals…. can NOT predict a benefit for epidurals… ummmmmm
https://www.spineuniverse.com/treatments/pain-management/lumbar-epidural-injection
The first study, which was published in 2015, focused on the effectiveness of epidural steroid injections on lumbar spinal stenosis symptoms (spinal stenosis affecting the low back is a common cause of back and leg pain).
The study’s authors compared 2 types of injections: The first contained corticosteroid plus lidocaine, and the second contained only lidocaine. The authors discovered that corticosteroid injections did not provide significant benefit over the lidocaine-only injections. The results questioned the effectiveness of a corticosteroid on symptom relief.
“These results suggest that although certain patient characteristics are associated with greater likelihood of good outcomes following either type of epidural injection for lumbar spinal stenosis symptoms (and possibly of good outcomes regardless of any treatment), there are no currently identified characteristics that predict a differential benefit from corticosteroid,” said Judith Turner, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
The second study, which was published in 2014, questioned whether epidural steroid injections are effective at delaying or preventing spine surgery. While the authors found that the injections provide a short-term benefit—they may prevent the need for surgery for up to a year—the effectiveness isn’t long-term.
“Epidural steroid injections may provide a small surgery-sparing effect in the short term compared with control injections and reduce the need for surgery in some patients who would otherwise proceed to surgery,” the authors wrote.
DON’T WAIT STUFF: “let’s treat you NOW!!!”
The sooner nerve compression is treated, the more likely you’ll enjoy a complete recovery. But if you wait too long to address your nerve-related pain, you risk having long-term or permanent nerve damage.
Moreover, a 2011 study suggested that waiting too long to seek medical treatment for your herniated disc may end up doing more harm than good. The study compared 2 groups of patients who had lumbar herniated discs. The patients who waited longer than 6 months to report their herniated disc symptoms to a doctor did not respond as well to treatment as those who waited less than 6 months to seek medical advice.1
The lesson patients can learn from this study is not to wait too long to visit your doctor if your herniated disc pain is severe. If you have low back or neck pain that persists, seeing a doctor sooner rather than later may improve the success of your treatment.
Are You a Candidate for ESS? Recommend non-surgical treatment BEFORE the ginsu knife and blow torch.
Many patients who are candidates for endoscopic spine surgery have been diagnosed with common types of spinal disorders. Some of these diagnoses include moderate to severe disc herniation, facet arthropathy, sciatica, and spinal stenosis. However, spine surgery is not always the first treatment. It is generally recommended that types of non-surgical treatment (eg, spinal injections, physical therapy) be tried before any type of spine surgery, including ESS.
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