Spine Injections
Okay this one is near and dear to my heart. DO NOT have anything done to your L4/L5 until they have ruled out your SI joint as the cause of pain. In 2004 I was told my intermittent back/buttock/groin/leg pain was due to bulging discs in L4/L5. I was told it didn't look too bad, and that physical therapy should be able to correct it. Fast forward year and YEARS of pain, frustration, and generally feeling like a piece of **** when I couldn't keep up with my peers(I'm in Army special operations) and I found the problem and solution on my own. It was instability in my SI joint all along. That is the joint that connects your pelvis to your sacrum. It's basically an expansion joint and not really meant to move. The pain literally brought me to my knees. Diagnosing it is very simple, they put that lidocaine injection directly into the joint, and if you have immediate relief, that's it. The only correction for it is to stabilize it via surgery. I'm two weeks post surgery now and can actually bend over to spit after brushing my teeth without buckling in pain. A large portion of patients that get a lower back fusion also end up needing an SI Joint fusion as well. Please brother, ask your doctor about it and request an SI joint injection BEFORE the spine injection just to rule it out. I'm happy to be off the pain roller coaster and I'm sure you will be too..Here is a pic of my 3 titanium pins they used.
Okay this one is near and dear to my heart. DO NOT have anything done to your L4/L5 until they have ruled out your SI joint as the cause of pain. In 2004 I was told my intermittent back/buttock/groin/leg pain was due to bulging discs in L4/L5. I was told it didn't look too bad, and that physical therapy should be able to correct it. Fast forward year and YEARS of pain, frustration, and generally feeling like a piece of **** when I couldn't keep up with my peers(I'm in Army special operations) and I found the problem and solution on my own. It was instability in my SI joint all along. That is the joint that connects your pelvis to your sacrum. It's basically an expansion joint and not really meant to move. The pain literally brought me to my knees. Diagnosing it is very simple, they put that lidocaine injection directly into the joint, and if you have immediate relief, that's it. The only correction for it is to stabilize it via surgery. I'm two weeks post surgery now and can actually bend over to spit after brushing my teeth without buckling in pain. A large portion of patients that get a lower back fusion also end up needing an SI Joint fusion as well. Please brother, ask your doctor about it and request an SI joint injection BEFORE the spine injection just to rule it out. I'm happy to be off the pain roller coaster and I'm sure you will be too..Here is a pic of my 3 titanium pins they used.