Anyone Treated with Cortisone Shots for Thigh Pain from disk problems?

[lailavia]

I have fibro and had an mri of my l spine and right hip because of right thigh pain and my rheumy came up with the conclusion that I have referred pain from slightly herniated and compressed disks....he said steroid injections would help. Well the first round of pain went away but now its back, esp at night when I sit or drive or lie down to sleep. Nothing really helps the pain. I have ultracet and have even tried a vicodin, my migraine rescue med, it does not really do much. I was just wondering if anyone had these shots and how long do they last, the pain relief, etc.....he said it was arthritis. I am going to see him next week.

[AK Kid]

Hello - Greetings from Alaska....

Where is your doctor going to give you the shot? At the lower back or at your hip?

I have had cortisone shots in my lower back, left hip (SI joint) and in my shoulder.

From my experience - when I was getting the combo shot (cortisone and longer lasting steriod and lindocaine) at my lower back - the lindocaine worked for the immediate and for about 3 hours afterwards. I was told that it will take a week or so for the cortisone to start working in that area (needs to be absorbed) but I did not notice any marked improvement with my pain. (L5-L3 herniation, L-5 osteophytes, L-5/S1 stenosis, Neural foramal stenosis).

Now I have had them injected into the hip and that did offer some relief and after about a week - I noticed improvement in my walking for about 3 months. Improvement but no total pain relief.

I noticed that the longer I had the shots - over 2 years in my shoulder the shots would lose their effectiveness....before I had my shoulder surgery I was barely getting one month of relief from the shots. They could only be given in 3 month intervals.

Let me know whether this helped or not.

Take care
Kim

[lailavia]

Hi from Maryland!

I am not sure where the injection would be done...he said he would refer me out to someone else who does it...I have made an appt. and will see how it goes....of course as soon as I made the appt. the pain eases up! Thats what happened after I spooned out 25$ for a PT session....I didn't even have pain when I went. So who knows. I am frustrated but your reply was very helpful to me. He said something about pinched nerves and it would come and go....maybe I'll just see if he can offer something for pain relief until it gets really bad like the first time.

[AK Kid]

What you are dealing with is normal. A bit of anxiety or worry about pains or proceedures clear up when I make appointments - our minds way of saying okay now you are going to deal with this......and we relax.

If I were you I would still talk to the doctor about the pain, how it affected you and get the referral - if he is sure it would help you.

Use the referral if and when the pain flares again.

There are numerous strategies I utilize for pain relief. I will bring up the principals of PRICE again, because following the steps really do help me in a flare. P=prevention (Stop whatever I am doing - causing the pain - if it is walking then rest, if it is sitting - change position, if it is resting then move) R=rest - do not overdo anything, take life slow. I= Ice packs (I use the big blue plastic ones that are used in ice chests - icing is good for nerve pain as well as inflammation....C=Compression=wrap the area - if it is your arm a ace bandage is good, I have this belt I put around my lower back - keeps it stable. E=Elevate - just raise the body part that is hurting - problematic at the back but just raising my legs so they are above my body helps. Sometimes I lay on the floor and rest my legs on my couch.

If your doctor gives you something for pain relief, those help some people, me I stay with small doses. I like going natural - as much as possible.

Massage, isometric exercises, tens unit and plenty of water (keep well hydrated) are all good and help with the extreme pain. So do hot baths.

All the best to you....

Kim

[lailavia]

Those were some very good ideas. I usually get the pain worst when I sit, I did notice one night I sort of jammed my leg straight and tight up against the wall while at computer and it seemed better....now its hardly hurting.....go figure...I am trying for disability right now due to a host of problems so I guess I will keep the appt....to add more to my miserable medical file. Sometimes I feel like I am almost normal....but I know I can't work right now.Thanks again for the good ideas...I appreciate your time!:)

[froglady]

I have thigh pain but it is on the outside of my thigh and hurts to walk. Also have lumbar issues, scaroliac is bugging me real bad again. do you have pain when you walk on the outside of your thighs? Am I the only one in the world that has this strange problem? Froggie

[lailavia]

may be coming from compressed nerve in your lumbar region , you may have little or no back pain, but the nerve from each particular disk affects different part of leg, thigh, all the way to foot. an mri would should which disk is compressing the nerves,, this is a big learning thing right now and I will try to get back later but I am ssoooooooooo tired. I need to go to bed!

Good luck.

[shiney sue]

Good luck L. and Hi from Missouri,my friend Bob had this done 2 weeks
ago,he is 78 and thhey kept him over night,he did well and came home
in the morning,make sure you have a ridr there and back home. But
to be honest his pain begin once again. Don't forget we are all different
your's may do well mine did. :) Sue

Kid do you have something good for very dry skin?

[Sunny]

I have disk problems & the pain you talk about on the outside of my thighs.
My doctor told me the pain on the outside of my thighs were "Trigger Points".
I have tried Trigger Point shots. They do not last long enough for me. What works best for me is Lidocaine Patches (RX). The trigger points make satellite trigger points if they are not worked out. Try a tennis ball to work them out with.
When I had the Cortisone shots in my back & neck.....I woke up from them with Zero pain, only the pain returned in 3 days. I have had several hoping they would last at least 2 weeks, they never have.

Not everyone is the same. Hopefully you will have great results with yours. It certainly doesn't hurt to try & just think how wonderful it would be if it worked!

There is a site I use a lot. It is: http://www.myofascialtherapy.org/symptomcheck.html

After you read the first page & click okay for legal stuff. Go to the next page & click on where you are hurting. Scroll down it will then show you where the referred pain is coming from. Each X marks a Trigger Point. After you find the one that describes you click on the X. It will explain a lot about that area.

Best Wishes

[snowmelts]

Bursitis, that's my non-medical voice of experience opinion.
Trochanteric Bursitis to be exact if it's on the outside of the hip.
Been there done that.. MEAN pain for sure from the entire hip outside and roaring down the theigh.

Bursa are small sacs of something.. that are between the bone and muscle allowing easy sliding of the muscle over the bone. When the bursa get smashed they tend to scream at you.

Mine was caused by my spine bending and pulling the muscles too tight over and therefor smashing and irritating the bursa on my hips Greater Trochanteric bone.

To get the diagnosis..
I Had the hip Xrays that showed no new problems, no hip arthritis.
I Had an MRI upon which they said Trochanteric Bursitis on the report

Got the steroid shot (wonderful relief after 3 days)

But of course my spine continued to bend so the bursitis was unhappily reoccurring.

Did PT, helped only a tiny bit.

Found a Chiropractor to help subjegate the bending of my spine....
GREAT results after many visits (It's not a short term commitment) and the hip bursitis pain monster is currently NICELY controlled.

To NOT have that constant monster pain any more is so wonderful.

I will continue seeing my Chiro since my spine will continuely need subjegated as it continues attempting to bend convexly to the left. The bending spine is due to my osteoarthritis and osteoporisis.

I hope you solve your problem.

Please forgive my bad spelling and lousy typing!

[snowmelts]

Kid do you have something good for very dry skin?

For dry skin Cetaphil cream is very good.
I have a form of excema.
I use Cetaphil on my face and other body areas except my eyellids.

If you have dry eylid areas Ponds cold cream is safe to use on eylids as a dry skin cream and works wonderfully for me.

My neighbor got really nasty looking exzema on her hands.
Her Skin specialist told her to use Cetaphil cream often all day.
That healed it.
It's sold over-the-counter pretty much anywhere where they sell any skin creams

[cindyd]

I had pain in back of hip that added thigh, knee and front of shin area to it. I tried inj. in back that helped with leg pain but not hip. Pain was worst when sitting or laying down. Am about to try physcial therapy and spinal decompression. Has anyone tried that yet? I have bad spots in L4 and sacral area.

[WC Nightmare]

Inversion chair is awesome. Accupunture and deep tissue trigger message. Had both epideral and facet injection and use a pain creme. All really good therapies, just now going into aquatic exercise.

[Sambouka74]

Both my Mom and I have Fibromyalgia. We found we were both have agony sleeping on our sides because of extreme pain in our hips. Turns out we both have bursitis in both our hips, an inflammation of the bursa, it is a type of arthritis, which she also has in her hands now. I get trigger point injections of a long term acting anesthesia and I think a steroid I'm not even sure, and it lasts for about 3 months. Covered by CDPHP and MVP usually. We think the arthritis my be creeping into her back but I'm stalking her about going to her appointments. she's 62 and I"m 34. Physical therapy Mom did for a year with no success. I did accupuncture and chiropractor with no success. I recommmend massage and a good orthopedic surgeon. Take it easy and take vitamins, I can recommend a few. Use heat and ice as whatever works for you and try tiger balm. It goes on warm and it feels awesome. And go soak in a hot tub at the Y. I just had thoracic fusion and 2 rods and 2 screws and I refuse to ever do a chiropractor ever again. No PT, they even said so, the surgeon, and my rheumatologist, said the same thing. If anyone has fibro, SAvella, the new drug comes out on the shelves in March. I already have my appointment. HOpe this helps. Crystal


I had pain in back of hip that added thigh, knee and front of shin area to it. I tried inj. in back that helped with leg pain but not hip. Pain was worst when sitting or laying down. Am about to try physcial therapy and spinal decompression. Has anyone tried that yet? I have bad spots in L4 and sacral area.

[Sambouka74]

Hi, I'm Crystal, Please be careful with the chiro. I do believe in them to a point, but I just kinda lost my faith. Been going since I was a kid. I just had a thoracic fusion and a rod and 2 screws and he missed the herniated disc that was compressing the spinal cord. They said if I hadn't come in, I would have become completely paralyzed from the bra line down. And my chiro missed it for 7 months.

Trochanteric Bursitis to be exact if it's on the outside of the hip.
Been there done that.. MEAN pain for sure from the entire hip outside and roaring down the theigh. Both my mother and I have it. Tempurpedic mattress pad and tiger balm. cheapest help you can get on top of the shots.

Yeah, the PT doesn't help much. Please be careful with the chiro, the shots are so much safer. Get a massage instead. It'll help your whole body feel better and it's not going to do any harsh movements of your bones. I know the pain is awful, I recommend Ultram. But I'm a walking pharmacy. I was a medical receptionist for 9 years, so I know both sides of the game. I'm just waiting for the new drug for fibro, the SAvella to come out.
I have fibro, scoliosis, the 2 disc fusion, with a bulging disc directly below, I have degenerative disc disease. I have IBS, Migraines, dry eye syndrome, insomnia, post traumatic stress disorder, I can't even remember all of it, most of it related to the fibro or the PTSD. I hope some of this helps. :)