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Any experience with medical procedures on your back?

CigarStone

CigarStone

For once, knowledge is making me poor!
Joined
Mar 7, 2007
Messages
11,052
I had an epidural injection Thursday in my back, they injected pain medication and steroid.

They are now talking about doing radio frequency ablation, which if I understand correctly, is to kill the nerves since I am walking around bone on bone.

While I understand that it will relieve my pain, I can't help but Wonder if I will just be doing more damage?

Does anyone have any experience with this procedure?

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The guy that used to process my deer had it done and swore by it. It's been ten years since I've seen him though, so I don't know what long term effects were, but he was about your age back then. That, and I remember him showing me a x-ray of how jacked up his spine was, but memory is too fuzzy to compare. Years of standing on concrete as a butcher had taken its toll on his back. He even walked way better because he didn't feel pain in his one leg anymore. It didn't make sense to me, so I asked him, "If you don't feel the pain any longer, does that mean there is numbness in your leg?" The answer was no.

One of the reasons I wanted to get out of being an auto technician. Standing in one spot too long on concrete, bent over an engine compartment takes its toll on your knees and back. I do much better constantly moving.
 
Look at it this way.... Most likely, degeneration damage will occur to your spine and then nerves whether you do the procedure or not. One scenario, you live with the pain. The other, not as much.

Let's see what the wrinkly forehead man has to say.
 
Is that the recommendation? Or are you trying to avoid a major surgery with fusion and/or a “cage”? I think that’s what it is called…
 
{tpc} said:
Is that the recommendation? Or are you trying to avoid a major surgery with fusion and/or a “cage”? I think that’s what it is called…
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Correct. I am not willing to do the surgery. At this point I am desperate to be rid of the pain.
 
My wife used to have it done of a different back issue. She'd get it done every 6-9 months or so. Right after she had the procedure, she was pain free for quite a while. I will have to ask her exactly what it was that is wrong (not disc degeneration), but it was something where surgery was not something that would fix it.

tl;dr -- It worked. Until it didn't. Then she'd do it again.
 
CigarStone said:
Correct. I am not willing to do the surgery. At this point I am desperate to be rid of the pain.
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Everyone I know that has had fusion/cage surgery, has regretted it.

I hope you get some relief brother! It was hard watching you struggle last time we were together. You couldn't even stand at the sink for five minutes to do the dishes without being in agony.
 
Jeff, I’m not disagreeing with the want to not have surgery, but it sounds like it might be inevitable? My mom who is 79 just went through a couple back surgery’s …couple because she fell a couple times after the first one, and is doing pretty well. But I would not personally want to have it that late. Recovery time was longer because of her age.
 
{tpc} said:
Jeff, I’m not disagreeing with the want to not have surgery, but it sounds like it might be inevitable? My mom who is 79 just went through a couple back surgery’s …couple because she fell a couple times after the first one, and is doing pretty well. But I would not personally want to have it that late. Recovery time was longer because of her age.
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I agree. Every year I wait will make the recovery harder but I am not done playing golf and being active yet. ....... I hope!
 
CBoukal said:
Jeff, I’d wait for Brad to give you his two cents. If anyone is going to give me orthopedic or rectal exam advice, it’s him
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My son-in-law is an orthopedic doctor and I get good advice from him. And it never has anything to do with prostate!
 
jfields said:
It doesn't really matter who gives you a prostate massage! As long as it's in the name of medicine right...., Right?
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I was pretty sure you were going to take that down the Jim Fretz Lane.
 
Of course you have done the inversion treatment I'm sure. You know where you are flipped upside down?
 
jfields said:
Everyone I know that has had fusion/cage surgery, has regretted it.

I hope you get some relief brother! It was hard watching you struggle last time we were together. You couldn't even stand at the sink for five minutes to do the dishes without being in agony.
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That was just a ruse to keep me from having to do the dishes.😁
 
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