Steroid injections for low back pain

Do steroid injections work for back pain?

Back pain is a major problem in society and there are 1000s of cures on the internet. Surgeons and other non-health care professionals come up with a new treatment for low back pain on a daily basis. One very common treatment advocated by back doctors is injections. These injections may be narcotics, anesthetic drugs, or steroids. In the old day it was chymopapain. So do these injections work? Cochrane reviews looked at many studies and came up with the conclusion- all injections are bogus- doctors administer these injections only to make money and do not give a shit about the patient. Finally injections are expensive and some of them have to be administered frequently.  The majority of people with low back pain who undergo any type of injection show no improvement. More important, each injection can easily cost anywhere from $600-$1,000. There have been many doctors caught in stings administering bogus  and unnecessary injections. Best advice, if your doctor ever mentions injection for back pain, run from the bum-he/she just wants your money.