Blog

Cervical Epidural Steroid Injections

Many people find relief from neck pain through various non-surgical treatments. Among these conservative neck care treatments are neck epidural corticosteroids injections. These steroid injections can provide temporary relief in situations of chronic neck pain and in cervical radiculopathy where inflammation is causing compression the cervical nerves and pain and numbness into the arms, hands and fingers. However, long-term results can be less successful. An October 2021 study (1) investigated the effect of preoperative epidural steroid injection on future outcomes  in patients undergoing surgery for cervical degenerative disease. In this large study: 97,117 patients underwent cervical degenerative surgery, of which

Read More »

Tennis elbow and elbow pain: Physical therapy, cortisone, bone marrow stem cell therapy and PRP injections

Marc Darrow MD, JD. We will often see patients who have lingering elbow pain. They continue to receive and remedy themselves with traditional “conservative” treatments that include resting, icing, anti-inflammatory medications, Kinesio tape and various other health care provided treatments including physical therapy, massage, cortisone injections and even acupuncture. While some will respond to these treatments the patients who come into our office have not. They have been scheduled for one of the many surgical procedures often suggested for treatment of lateral epicondylitis. Most will be recommended to a debridement, the removal of tissue “too far gone,” to be saved.

Read More »

People have failed shoulder surgeries and doctors cannot pinpoint why

People have very successful shoulder surgeries. Most go very well. But what about the few that do not? In the worst case of shoulder replacement I have seen, an elderly man presented with right shoulder pain. When I asked him to lift his arms, he lifted his right arm, but had no motion at all in his left shoulder. I was perplexed and asked if his left shoulder also hurt. His response was alarming. He told me he had a left shoulder replacement, and the arm prosthesis had dislocated out the the shoulder, and he had absolutely no use of

Read More »

Treatments for a torn meniscus. Conservative care, surgery and injections

Marc Darrow, MD Many people today are exploring meniscus surgery alternatives. One reason is that there is significant and controversial research to suggest that not only will meniscus surgery NOT help them, but is some instances, the surgery may leave them worse off. But what if you have been told that surgery is the only option? Research presented in this article may provide you with an understanding that perhaps there are more options than just surgery. When knee pain from meniscus damage is symptomatic, it represents a challenge since arthroscopic surgery provides unpredictable results Many people have very successful surgeries.

Read More »

Degenerative disc disease or a sprained back?

Over the years we have seen many patients with a long history of back pain. Most of the time it was nondescript back pain and no one was sure what was causing it. The problem, according to some patients, was the MRI did not show enough damage or irregularities to justify an aggressive surgical treatment. So the patient became “pain managed” with prescription medications, painkillers, anti-inflammatories, and possibly a few courses of physical therapy, possible chiropractic care, and then epidural steroid or cortisone injection. Eventually the patient will get a follow up MRI and one day, someone will find something

Read More »

Research on Transforaminal Epidural Blocks

Lidocaine and steroids A May 2022 paper (1) compared lidocaine to steroids in Transforaminal Epidural Blocks for lumbar disc herniation. In this study, the researchers noted: “Lumbar transforaminal epidural block (TFEB) is an effective treatment modality for radicular pain due to lumbar disc herniation. The addition of steroids is more effective than local anesthetic alone in Lumbar transforaminal epidural block for patients with lumbar disc herniation. Moreover, the efficacy of Lumbar transforaminal epidural block (TFEB) has been reported to be positively correlated with the volume of injectate. . . This study compared the efficacy of high-volume Lumbar transforaminal epidural block

Read More »