Helped Over 500,000 patients with 98%+ satisfaction.

Connect & Get Personalized 1-to-1 Answers from Expert Doctors

DoctorSpring > Question Home

Herniated disk

Resolved Question:

My daughter has had a herniated disk since 2009. Well, the last couple of weeks, it got really bad so a back doctor prescribed her oral prednisone, and now she is even more debilitated than ever. Can barely move and is just lying in bed. The doc on call just told her to go to the hospital. Do you think it's the oral steroids causing the pain? Please give me some advice on what she could do to alleviate her pain, as she screams from just crawling or walking. HELP!

Category: Internal Medicine Specialist

Ask Your Own Question

Category: HIV- AIDS Specialist
 30 Doctors Online

Hello,

Thank you for choosing DoctorSpring.

I am sorry to hear about your Daughter's pain and will try my best to help you.

Oral Prednisolone will NOT help in disc herniation / prolapse pain . This has been tried and found to have no promising result. So I DO NOT recommend oral steriods at all. On the contrary long term use can cause many side effects too.

But the current pain is not due to the steroid intake. It should be the herniation getting worse and pinching the nerves.
Was an MRI done ? At what level is the herniation ? Was surgery considered ?

For now the best option would be a strong NSAID like Acelcofenac+ Paracetamol. Alternatively you can use an OTC pain medication like Ibuprofen 400 mg two - three times a day.

If you can provide me more details like - the level of prolapse , MRI report , past treatment plans etc I might be able to help yu better. You can reply as followup

Hope this helps
Thank you


Patient replied :

She had an MRI in 2009, and it showed the herniated disk. The back doc wanted to try her on the oral steroids ten-day plan before he did another MRI, and she is just in excruciating pain now. She did PT to no avail. Surgery is not an option now.


Well the steroids will not help in pain for short term. BUT there are intra thecal steroid injections (injected into the spinal cord) which can provide pain relief.

NSAID pain medications + Opioids are the best option now. You can also use pain balms.

With this amount of symptoms you should consider Surgery. If you can share the MRI report I could get the opinion of our Spine Surgeon whether she is a good candidate for surgery or not.

Thank you


Dr. Jaydeep Tripathy
Category: HIV- AIDS Specialist
Experience: 
MBBS from Sri Ramachandra University in December 2011
M.Med (Family Medicine) - TNMGR University, Chennai
MBA-MPH in Public Health in March 2016, SRM University
Finished AFIH in March 2016, SRM University
MRCP ( UK ), Internal Medicine, Royal College of Physicians, June 2016
Fellowship in Diabetology from Martin Luther University in January 2017

Currently Resident Physician, in MD Radiodiagnosis - Kamakshi Memorial Hospital, Chennai
Dr. Jaydeep Tripathy and 4 other Medical Specialists are ready to help you

Users who read this, also read:

Make informed and better medical decisions.

Join the 500,000 people who found a smarter, quicker way to get Answers, Recommendations & Expert Opinions.

Expert Doctors at fingertips

Recommendation on next step. Second-opinion.Multi-specialty.

Save Time

Average time for answers: 6 hours.

Save Money

$35 for typical specialist consult vs. $120 for a local appointment.

Free Follow-ups

Clarify, ask further questions for free in private conversation.

100% Satisfaction

Money back guarantee for the 1st reply. MEDNET Quality Board.

Start My Consultation

CHAT NOW

About DoctorSpring.com

Doctor Spring is a novel online Doctor consultation platform where you can get your medical questions answered by leading Doctors. Just Submit your question and rest assured that you will consult a Doctor easily. Once you submit the question, the Doctor from the concerned specialty will reply within hours. You can always ask more questions or add details with follow-up question options and make it an online doctor chat. You may use this service to consult a specialty or for getting medical second opinion. All paid services come with a MEDNET quality assurance and 100% money back guarantee.

DoctorSpring in news