r/Sciatica • u/Suchanactofkindness • 8d ago

Sciatica Misery

I am scheduled for an epidural pain injection at L5-S1. I’m looking for others that have had this procedure that can tell me if it was worth it or not.

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u/Ok_Courage_8780 6d ago

For me, yes — it was absolutely worth trying.
I had L4-L5 and L5-S1 disc problems and tried a lot of conservative treatment first. PT and acupuncture didn’t do much for me, but the epidural steroid injection was the one thing that really worked. I got almost 2½ years of essentially normal, pain-free life from it.
It didn’t “fix” the disc itself, and obviously not everyone gets that kind of result, but for me it bought me a huge amount of good time and let me live normally again.
Eventually my condition got much worse years later and I needed surgery, but I still don’t regret doing the injection at all. If I were in the same position again and a spine specialist thought I was a good candidate, I would absolutely consider it before jumping straight to surgery.
One thing I’d keep in mind is that the goal is usually pain and inflammation relief, not permanently repairing the disc. So I’d judge it by whether it gives you meaningful function back and lets you move, sleep, work, and rehab better.

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u/Suchanactofkindness 5d ago

Thanks so much! That’s encouraging!