By Eppie on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 09:25 am:

Hi all,

I know you guys can relate to this one...one month I finish a mini-triathlon (with some joint pain of course, but nothing bizarre) and the next month I twist a vertebrae (spraining ligaments and shearing my facet joints) doing some menial task. (side note: the nurse practitioner I saw said I strained a muscle...yeah right...once again I had to be my own advocate to nail down a diagnosis).

Anyway, my questions are these...1) Has anyone every done this? It's been 10 weeks and the pain is still intense. And 2) I am scheduled for a facet block (essentially a cortisone injection). Has anyone had one of these and how effective are they? I'm extremely weary of cortisone because of it's detrimental effects on soft tissue, but my PT (whom I adore and trust) said a one-time shot isn't enough to do damage.

Any reply/information would be much appreciated.

Eppie

By Judy on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 07:08 pm:

My daughter had an epidural cortizone shot for pain due to spondylolisthesis (one vertebra overriding another) in her lumbar area. Within the week she had pain shooting down into her foot, and before it was just to the knee. One month after the epidural her left side went into contracture. She went on to have a lumbar fusion of L4 to S1 that did not completely heal. She had severe muscle spasms in her back after surgery and it only stopped when they applied the body cast. The spasms returned after the cast and brace were removed to learn to walk again. By this time her muscles and ligaments were too weak to hold up her back. I believe ALL these problems are connected to the soft tissue damage caused by the epidural.

Judy