ER Visit, Trigger Point Injections

| marandarussell

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Well, my back is no better after 5 days, so I ended up visiting the ER last night. They gave me a steroid shot and 2 trigger point injections. It was the first time I’ve had trigger point injections and they hurt like hell! Luckily, the pain is brief, but I couldn’t help yelling out a bit in pain and squeezing my husband’s hand like a stress ball during the procedure.

Unfortunately, the shots didn’t seem to work. I’m not any better than I was before going to the ER. That makes me think that it is probably my spine causing the issue – either my degenerative disc disease or my bulging discs.  At the ER doc’s suggestion, I also bought a TENS unit and have tried it out a couple times. I’m not sure it is helping either, but I figure at this point I’ll try anything.

I’m so very tired of this constant pain. This is enough to drive a person crazy.

33 thoughts on “ER Visit, Trigger Point Injections”

  1. Tens machine can help numb the nerves

    Heat and ice are also good

    I bought a hydroculator

    Wet heat

    When u can find someway u can swim hike walk yoga

    The less
    You think about your pain the better

    Slash pain is emotionless, neutral

    Avoid giving it power through thoughts or words

    Good luck

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      1. Well u need to know your spine is stable

        Yoga has helped my daughter

        She got off phentenyl patches using a meditative focused yoga practice and hiking

        You see them at physical therapy and chiropractor offices

        They take it out of a stainless steel container

        Moist hot pack they wrap with a towel then apply to area needed

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  5. I really hope you get some relief soon, your situation sounds awful! I can’t believe the ER did not help, maybe the shot will kick in pretty soon. All that’s left to do is see an acupuncturist or a neurosurgeon, how long has it been since you had an MRI? Maybe they need new images. Good luck! Get well soon!

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  9. Chronic pain certainly can drive you ‘crazy’. I’m so sorry the ER treatment didn’t work, that must have been so disheartening. TENS can take the edge off for some people so it’s worth trying for a while, as I imagine it’s the whole ‘desperate times, desperate measures’ thing now you’ve been dealing with this so intensely. I can only really think of low level help, which isn’t going to do a lot, but things like heat and/or ice, those pain relief/numbing gels or creams. Hmmm, were they not able to suggest anything, or other prescription painkillers? Not ideal but for the interim.. I really do hope you can get some kind of relief, even if temporary, with something. xxxx

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  11. In 2009 I blew out my disk at L5 S1. It encapsulated my sciatic nerve and has given me daily pain for 10 years now. I went through a series of epidural steroid injections in my spine. Then a laminectomy/discectomy surgical procedure followed by 2 months of physical therapy once I had healed from my spinal surgery. After this injury, it took me a year to learn to walk normally again.

    Walking is a great exercise to help with back pain. I hike as often as I can for the last several years now. Also, strengthening your back is a good option as stronger muscles will support your spine much better than weaker muscles which can allow the disks to settle and leave you with pain from nerve impingements. One of the worse things that one can do with a back that causes pain is to baby it. I cried many tears during my recovery process, yet despite still having daily chronic sciatic pain from the nerve being daaged by my injury, I still live a very full and satisfying life.

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    1. Did you feel like the epidural shots really help? I know they have considered doing them for me. I worry about doing them without sedation though and the place that was going to do them didn’t offer any kind of sedation.

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      1. No, the epidural injections did nothing at all for me. I had the same concerns and the doctor did a good job. The disk encapsulating my sciatic nerve did too much damage to the nerve for the shots to be effective. Today, my sciatic nerve has scarred over (confirmed by MRI) and gives me fits year round, but especially in the cold weather. That being said, I still live a full life because I can be home on disability in pain or living life in pain. My family doctor recommended I go on full and permenent disability because of the pain I was living with. I fired her that day and quit the narcotic pain meds I had been on cold turkey and went through withdrawals at home with no medical supervision. It was tough, but my life is great now despite chronic pain.

        I wish you the best, and in case you do not know: If you are taking narcotic pain meds, you will never quit hurting as long as you are on them.

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      2. I do not take daily narcotics or even close. I only take them for flare ups which happen at most a few times a month. For lesser flareups I tough it out with ice/heat and nsaids. I only use the tramadol for the really bad pain days and try not to use it for too many days in a row. I think the most days I’ve used it in a row was this last flareup that was the worst and longest lasting yet, which I think I took the tramadol at least 5 or 6 days in a row. I tried to tough it out most of the time during the day and only take the narcotics at night to sleep, but I did take it a couple times during the day when I was in agony. I’ve taken tramadol like that for probably 10 years or so now and never fill more than 1-2 prescriptions a year because I watch it closely.

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      3. That’s great you do not have to rely on pain meds daily. I was on hydrocodone for 3 months and then oxycodone for 9 months.

        After 10 years, I hope you have become adept at figuring out what triggers your pain and how to avoid those triggers. It took me a few years to get mine totally figured out.

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      4. I’m not sure I would do the shots without sedation either. I had a conscious sedation when they did mine. I did not remember a thing about the procedure. I had a fear of seeing the screen the doctor was using and watching him stick the needle where it did not belong.

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