Also Sammy it depends on which area of the spine
the injections will be done in.
Mine is in the cervical spine and while there is a doctor doing the steroid injections (not cortisone) it is a high risk procedure for me requiring hopitalization,x-ray,and general anesthetic.Also the spectre of liver damage with long term use of the steroids.
I was told it was a much simpler and more common procedure in the lumbar spine area with little risk and sometimes great benefit.
The drs. don't know if it will alleviate the pain until they have actually tried the procedure. As AB said each individual must make their own choice.
I too use yoga,meditation, biofeedback and various other pain management techniques to help "manage" the pain which can not be controlled with any medications.
I've been following -with great interest- the developement of "artificial" disk repacements and hope one day this will be available to me.
With weather like we've been having lately I can not even get out of bed without assistance so hopefully some day this new technology will be a common operation like having your appendix out.
You could always try the procedure and see if it works for you.
Good luck
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