Have you been considering steroid injections for your low back pain? Make sure you read this before getting jabbed with that needle! Studies show that steroid injections and use of arthritis drugs have no significant improvement in relief of back pain or sciatica.
Unfortunately when you suffer with pain you are likely to call a medical doctor that jumps right to medication or epidural steroid injections. This form of treatment is growing in popularity even though there are severe side effects
and low success rates. Read our other article: Epidurals Useless in Treatment of Low Back Pain
With the low success of spinal surgery and analgesic medications, the doctors are turning more to steroid injections. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine questions the long term benefits of steroid injections even if they provide some short-term pain relief of sciatica.
84 patients with lumbosacral radiculopathy of up to 6 months were split into 3 groups. One group received the epidural steroid, the second group received an arthritis drug called Etanercept and the control group received a saline injection. The steroid group showed a slight better outcome than the saline (control group). In an article by Medpage: Shots Deliver Scant Relief of Low Back pain it is said “Etanercept actually appeared to retard improvement in disability, as functional capacity improved similarly with steroids or the saline placebo.” These injections are quite expensive running from $500 to $700 so if they have such a low success, why are we pushing such treatments?
An article in Reuters: Spinal injections may not aid lower back pain. Dr. Steve Cohen from Johns Hopkins says, “People are looking for something more effective and something safer. The findings are disappointing, but by no means is this the end of the story.” Dr. Cohen even goes on to state patient behavior has a better effect in pain relief including weight loss, exercise and other natural means.
So if these treatments continue to show little success over a control group and risk of side effects, why are they still recommended? Well if you think of what medical doctors do best: prescribe drugs and mask symptoms.. it’s all about the money and not what is in best interest of patients. It’s important that people look for the facts.
Chiropractic care isn’t about pushing medications or surgery. Chiropractic is about finding the cause of your low back pain and sciatica. By removing the cause, we provide the safest and most cost effective treatment. This gets you not only feeling better but able to enjoy normal daily activities. Several studies have shown the long last results of treatment by a chiropractor versus steroid injections, medications and surgery.
If you suffer with low back pain and sciatica, contact our Freehold chiropractor who has over 16 years experience helping patients with back pain and sciatica. For more information click here.