Do steroid injections work? Do they hurt?

[giveitback]

I was injured in an automobile accident. I had a lot of injuries: knees, hip, pelvis, ruptured discs, blah blah. I have been in physical therapy and found it to be very helpful for my muscles, ligaments, SI joint, flexibility and mobility; but....it is making my nerve root damage worse. Just the slightest touch of my therapist's hands and crazy nerve sensations spread like wildfire.
I don't understand how some days I am doing "ok" and can actually walk to the stop sign and other days, in an instant, all it takes is a sneeze, I am knocked down for a good 10 days. I have to recooperate all over again.
Pre-accident I was a fulltime student working on my teaching credentials and working 25 hours a week. I golfed every Friday, road my mountain bike several times a month, went bowling every Sunday morning, went to ballgames hiked, went out dancing, etc. etc. Now, I can't count on myself to walk out to my mailbox and get the mail. My social life has come to a screaming halt. I had to drop out of last semester in school (SITTING IS THE WORSE) and have not been able to work because I am no longer a dependable person.
My PT recommended fluorscopy and my MD said basically the same thing - try the steroid injections. Do I want to take this route? Do they work? Do they make things worse?
Thanks for any input!

[giveitback]

Thanks for sharing your experience, I was kind of thinking the same thing. I am already messed up, the last thing I need is for a "false sense of hope" by opting for the steroid shots and then have to deal with the after-effects of the shot to boot!

You know what is really messed up is that it's been difficult to find a doctor to treat me because my injuries were sustained in a car accident. All I want is to get better and have my life back, why does everyone think you are out for money? I would give up every cent to just be me again!  : )

[amythist2779]

Hi,
I agree with the above poster. I would steer clear of the injections. I have fibromyalgia and chronic back pain. I had no idea what the injections were when I first tried them which was a couple years ago. I only had 3 of them to learn my lesson. The first time I had them I had one in each hip, Well I could not walk for the next 3 days because it made the pain so much worse that I could not stand up. The next time I got them in my shoulders because I get these knots that just wont go away, anyhow, like before, I could not hardly use my arms for a few days. The shots for me made the pain worse and on top of that it made the area where I got it very weak.

If you decide to go for it, I hope you have better luck than I did. Good Luck to you,

[ozziefisho68]

gday, it has been my experience to steer clear of steroid shots/injections as they will quite often alleviate pain for only a few short days and then the pain will return, in very minor cases it can happen to work as the original problem was not a serious one and therefore relaxes the surrounding muscles/tisssue around the area and provide enough relief for some recovery,i have had 2 major back surgeries in the past 12 months,and to be quite honest i would steer well clear of all steroid shots but that is my opinion only,years back i was having severe back pain /leg pain numbness etc and my local doctor who i will not name!!! advised me to have regular steroid shots...and yes for short periods this slowed the pain down,but in the end all it did was numb the pain around the area enough for me to carry on so called normal duties only to the detriment of my future health,basically it numbs the area enough for you to do general duties etc,giving you a false sense of security ,and you are probably doing more damage in the long run,that was my case anyway,as far as the shots hurting it really depends what sort of pain you are used to/and how you handle it.i myself would compare the shot  to a mozzie bite at the very worst,but not worth the trouble,  my advice would be to contact your local doctor, and ask to be referred to dr warwick stening,he is an absolute magician with any back problems, he operates out of the prince of wales hospital at randwick in sydney ,he is the best neurosurgeon i have ever dealt with ,and does private and public patients,ph:02 96504997 fax:[phone] and his address is suite 13 ,level 7,barker street entrance ,randwick , nsw 2031