But I got a cortisone injection in my neck for a herniated disk (scared the hell out of me – needle through my trap muscle to inject my neck). Had that 3-4 years ago and it’s been great. Things are acting up again after I started working out again so I might need another. Seems to really work.

where the bulging or herniated disc is irritating a nerve, which makes the nerve swell, increasing the pressure on the nerve from the disc, which further irritates the nerve, etc, etc, etc, then the epidural can break that cycle. It worked for me immediately. However, you can only do this so many times during your life. Now I try to recognize when I may be irritating a nerve and immidiately try to take it easy and pop my prescription anti-inflamatory meds called Etodolac. That along with a vicodin will completely relax me. It’s worked so far. I can’t take muscle relaxers b/c they mess with my for nearly 30 hours straight.

Physical therapy was a bust for me as well. I already stay pretty active and am in decent shape, but they go way too far with all the stretching in my opinion. I’ll try to routinely stretch my hamstrings, but don’t go overboard with the stretching. The etodolac has really worked for me. You might mention it to your doc.

Oh, also I got a 4 inch memory foam topper from overstock for my bed. Takes some getting used to, but it has kept me from waking up with back pain in the mornings.