AF Chica
When you asked and said: ("I would like to know how painful it is. And how it has affected you. ") That is very difficult to answer, as everyone feels pain differently and is affected by it a little differently. For example allot of folks think that the epidurals in the neck are very pain full !! I personally did not think that they were that bad in the neck. When I was in nursing school we were taught that PAIN is subjective, everyone feels and reacts to pain differently. And PAIN is what ever the person says it is. I can not feel a persons pain, so I have to go by what they tell me. So how can I or anybody tell you how painfull an epidural steroid injection is? and how bad it is in the lower back? I have had them in the neck lower back and mid back ( thorasic area) I thought the mid back was the worst! The injections did little for me in the mid and lower back, but did give me at least three good weeks of relief in the neck (cervical spine) The one I had in my hip did absolutely nothing, but the one I had in my right shoulder gave me close to six months of relief! I have since have had surgery on it. Anyway it is all so subjective. Some people get good relief from steroids, and some don't, and like me, it might also depend on where they are given! I know that this is not answering your questions, but I just am not sure your questions have an answer. In the end you will just have to make the decision, and if you try it, then you will know how painfull it is, and whether it works and gives you any relief from your pain.
I am personally kind of sorry that you are having all these spinal problems while being in the Air Force, because I know from experience how hard it is to get adequate pain relief while in the military! I know what I had to suffer with, and go through when I was in, and I just pray and I hope that you do not have to experience that too! I am proud of my time in, but in my book, their medical care, leaves whole lot to be desired! And after getting out and then going back to school and becoming an RN, I look back an cringe at the medical treatment I received! ( please note, I was not in the medical field when in the AF, I was in Photography, Flight Simulators, and Data Processing) Anyway, I would still recommend you try an epidural injection, who knows it really might give you some relief! They certainly are not going to give you adequate pain relief through medications. In the end, maybe Surgery might be the only answer, but knowing the AF, you will probably have to give all the other stuff a try first, before that will probably ever happen!
I do wish you all the best!
White Beard