# Anybody have cortisone shots for sciatica? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-cortisone-shots-for-sciatica/427035 "2007-11-19T15:01:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-cortisone-shots-for-sciatica/427035/1 "2007-11-19T15:01:45Z")
I’ve had severe sciatic nerve pain for several weeks. My doc gave me some med that helped, but had to stop due to side effects. I’ve had lumbar disk problems for years, which caused some sciatic nerve pain in one leg, but always went away eventually. This time it is in both legs, and not a result of my back “going out.” Have no idea what caused it. My wife insists that cortisone is a miracle cure, but my family doc said it can work for tendons, joints and muscle, but probably not for nerve involvement. Years ago I had a torn rotator cuff and twice got the shots. Not only were they extremely painful, but did not help anyway. From what I’ve read, they offer only temporary relief, but may reduce inflamation, in which case they can be effective. Anybody had any relief from these shots for sciatica? ---
**Author:** ![SlowMindThinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@SlowMindThinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlowMindThinking)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-cortisone-shots-for-sciatica/427035/2 "2007-11-19T23:50:44Z")
Not sciatic nerve pain, but for a similar problem. My doc said it has ab out a 20% chance of working. It is worth the shot, since most other solutions are more expansive and invasive. I had two. It did not work for me. On the other hand, my problem probably isn’t a disk problem, so we may not compare well. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-cortisone-shots-for-sciatica/427035/3 "2007-11-20T00:21:38Z")
My dad had the same experience as **SlowMindThinking** - went through a few rounds of shots before he decided they didn’t work and ended up in surgery. For a disk, tho. I think doctors just prefer to give it a try instead of cutting you open or putting you on long-term drugs. Seems like it’s a “we’ll see if it works” thing for everyone (my dad has since heard many stories about people’s backs and whether or not the shots helped.) ---
**Author:** ![This\_ll\_Do](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/this_ll_do/32/3023_2.png) [@This\_ll\_Do](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_ll_Do)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-cortisone-shots-for-sciatica/427035/4 "2007-11-20T04:16:28Z")
I have ulnar nerve impingement. Discussed the shots with my docs as an option since I don’t tolerate oral analgesics well but want to postpone surgery as long as I can. They said I _might_ get relief, and it would be short-lived and for me to “think about it.” My thinking: painful injection in my elbow, only temporary relief, and might not work at all-- _Do Not Want_. What I have used, though, is the Lidoderm patch. It’s an adhesive patch you apply on the skin over the painful area, which delivers the local anesthetic lidocaine transdermally. These things have given me immense relief. It’s by prescription only, shockingly expensive, and well worth it. I have met two patients who say they’ve had a lot of success using the patches for disk pain, too. You could ask your physician if this would help in your case. ---
**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-cortisone-shots-for-sciatica/427035/5 "2007-11-20T04:43:59Z")
My dad got them for sciatica and he said they worked, but he had been slowly recovering before then so I’m not sure how much could be attributed to the shots themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Snowcarpet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowcarpet/32/257_2.png) [@Snowcarpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowcarpet)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-cortisone-shots-for-sciatica/427035/6 "2007-11-20T14:53:18Z")
I’ve had the shots (both hips) for pain related to bursitis in my hip joints, (so YMMV greatly), and I found that they really stopped the immediate pain and agony. Not so great in the long term, though (seemed like it only felt “great” for a few weeks, and “good” only for a few months.) But it was far better than weeks of agony! ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anybody-have-cortisone-shots-for-sciatica/427035/7 "2007-11-20T17:39:06Z")
I had 3 such shots for a fully extruded L5S1 disk herneation impinging on my sciatic nerve root. The first shot gave relief in 5 minutes (from the anesthetic they include, not the cortisone) and over the course of the next couple weeks was still somewhat helpful. The second was less successful and the third even less so, and then I had surgery which was successful. If you crush a nerve root, it typically gets inflamed and swells. The swelling compounds the situation. Meanwhile, the disk tissues gradually get reabsorbed and shrink, and according to some theories is also dissolved by compounds nerves secrete when they’re inflamed. Cortisone can temporarily reverse the swelling, which may give you enough room for enough time that the disk shrinks, so that the inflammation stops and the swelling therefore doesn’t return. Or so they say.