been 10 days and still lots of pain

I know the ortho. surgeon told me to wait 4 wks. till mynext appt. to see if the epidural shots worked in my lower back  but it,s been 10 days and no relief. Just deciding if I should give him a call Monday just to see what he says. I feel no different with this pain. Very painful. I,m so far just taking Narco for the pain and icing it. Don,t want to jump the gun but I need some kind of relief. I have DDD, joint facet syndrome and a small tear in my L5, which I relly don,t know if that heals on it,s on. I go back to work Jan. 3rd. and hate to have to deal with this pain then. I,ve been off work since Oct. 21. with carpal tnnel surgery and torn meniscus knee surgery. Any advice. Thanks

I
I,ll try to call him on monday. I,ll just keep taking my pain meds. Maybe I,ll go soak in a hot bath or try a heating pad. thanks

Can you rotate heat and ice? I don't know what your doc says to do, but I have a REALLY soft ice pack...it's huge. It's gel--the kind they use at a physical therapy center. It's wonderful. I also use moist heat, which helps a lot. Hot baths are great. When I'm flaring, I can't even talk. But if I'm having a high pain day, I try to find a movie to watch so that I'm distracted a bit. Even though it doesn't help much, a little tiny bit can make a big difference. I'm so sorry that you have so much pain.

Hugs,

Flower

mikey1028, if you indeed have a annular tear in one of your disk, these can heal on their own, but may take a very, very, long time. It may take about a year or more, if it heals at all. There are no blood vessels in this lining, thus the long healing time. You must be very careful not to tear it more, with strenuous activity.

Take care!

SE