Injecting saline water helps treat lower back pain than steroids

Direct injection of saline water into the spine may be a more effective treatment for lower back pain than steroid injections, a new study by Johns Hopkins University (USA) confirms. More than 740 people with fungal meningitis and 55 people died after being injected with contaminated steroid drugs last year.

Photo: Daily Mail

Experts analyzed the medical records of 3,641 patients from 43 studies, then compared the steroid epidural injection method with other epidural injections and intramuscular injections.

Anesthesiologist Steven Cohen commented: " Only the method of injecting fluids into the space for epidural anesthesia is effective. It shows that most of the analgesic effect may not be due to the drug steroid form - which makes many people worry ".

In addition, the study found that steroids have side effects such as increased blood sugar index in patients with diabetes, slowing the rate of wound healing and causing bone diseases in elderly women.

However, Dr. Mark Bicket - member of the research team - recommends that more large-scale studies are needed to determine whether injecting steroid alternatives (such as salt water) may be chosen as useful methods. for patients with back pain or not.