Do Spinal Injections Help with Back Pain?

Copyright (c) 2014 LifeWorks Integrative health

Each year millions of patients undergo epidural steroid injections with the hope of finding relief from back pain. Despite the fact that millions receive these spinal injections, new research suggests that a majority of spinal injections are completely unnecessary. Research released in July 2014 by The New England Journal of Medicine, indicates that researchers have found that epidural steroid injections failed to produce measurable benefits when compared to lidocaine injections for spinal stenosis.

More than one study has questioned if epidural injections are really worth it.. This study is unique to those previously published. It is the largest randomized trial conducted yet of the effects of spinal injections for spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spine that leads to sciatica as well as pain in the legs and back

.This study included 400 patients with a diagnosis of spinal stenosis. The patients either received a steroid injection or an anesthetic injection (lidocaine). After six weeks, both groups showed similar improvement rates. This had lead researchers to conclude that steroid injection offer minimal or no short-term benefit.

Did you know that the FDA has not approved these steroid spinal injections for the treatment of back pain? Yet, doctors across the country are using these spinal injections as part of their everyday practice. Why are doctors using spinal injections that are not FDA approved? Because some patients report that their pain levels have improved. Many insurance companies require epidural injections prior to having surgery.

Spinal injections have become a way of life amongst the orthopedic community. When a patient is experiencing back pain, they go for an MRI. When an abnormality is seen on an MRI, the patient immediately goes for epidural spinal injections. Will this study cause doctors and patients to think twice before immediately going for injections? Only time will tell.

Before considering spinal injections, patients should always weigh the risks as well as the benefits. Injections are typically considered safe. However, the FDA warned earlier this year that spinal injections, in rare cases, may cause blindness, paralysis, stroke and even death.In 2012, contaminated steroid injections were linked to a fungal meningitis outbreak. This outbreak affected 751 individuals; 64 of these cases resulted in death. Many of the individuals who received these contaminated steroid injections had received the injections in hopes of finding relief from back pain and spinal stenosis.

For those 50 and older, careful consideration needs to take place before deciding on epidural injections. In a study of patients over the age of 50, researchers found that every spinal injection of steroids led to a 21 percent increase in a patient's risk of developing vertebral fractures.

For those over 50 and really anyone, who does not want to take any chances with spinal injections, chiropractic care offers a drug-free way to alleviate the symptoms of spinal stenosis. One study even found that chiropractic care was just as effective as epidural steroid injections in easing back pain. Chiropractic care of spinal stenosis is cheaper, has fewer risks and is drug-free.