Steroid Injections for Back Pain

I read your article. The following are incorrect in my opinion.

Women use it more..(back injections)....I use it, am female and it works. I am staving off back surgery #3 and it makes me able to function and walk!

Crunching numbers and making statements about whether it is effective and that it is being done for $$ offends me.

You did not contact all of us who have been treated....instead you, again in my opinion, made a statement that may influence people in need of alternative treatments not to seek it.

If you have ever had serious back problems you would be able to speak from actual experience not the fact crunching you did in this article.

I have lost confidence in the information and opinions from this site and that is a shame as I originally felt JOHN HOPKINS knew what it was talking about. No I do not have the same opinion.

Mary E. Bryce

The problem is that the steroid injections help with the pain in the short term but do nothing to correct the problem. Frequent or continued steroid injections also can negatively affect your health in other ways.

The injections I recieved over a 1 1/2yr period for shoulder pain before and after surgery from my Pain Specialist were the best thing that could have happened for me. After 1yr I had no more shoulder pain, and was able to return to work with some restriction. I also recieved 2 injecttions for and my chronic/daily headaches that have never come back. It has been 3 years since my last injection and my last pain pill. They were worth every dime spent. When other Doctor's were tired of listening to my complaints and tired of prescribing pain meds that were often not helpful, I found a Pain Specialist that listened and knew exactly how to treat my pain. I'm an RN. This Doctor explained the pro's and con's, was prudent in his care and treatment of my problems. I would recommend steriod injections given by a qualified professional Pain Specialist to anyone who has chronic neck, shoulder, back pain, or chronic headaches.

"despite limited evidence about how well the steroid injections actually work" What does this mean? Has the efficacy been studied and the results ambiguous, or is there simply a paucity of research? I can't tell you how many times an MD has mistaken lack of research for lack of truth. Doctors need to listen to their patients' experiences, and patients need to trust their instincts. For me, steriod gave me back my life. I was completely bedridden before, and now I am a productive, and happy, member of society. Not all conditions can be corrected, by the way. Sometimes you just need a good pain management doctor. One who will listen.