Lumbar facet joint injections?

[vipersnest1]

I'm going to have these in the next few weeks.
Does anyone have any experience / tips?
Also, although we're told not to drive for insurance purposes, would you have been ok to? (The consultant hinted that I would be able to - the most likely place for me to have it is just over an hour's drive, and I don't have anyone to take me.)

I've had them ... three times

All 3 times I would've been able to drive myself home; except I've had to be put under GA as local doesn't work for me

I've had them done 4 times. Each time was under sedation.
They need to be accurate in where they're injected into your spine so a sedative or GA would be used.
You wouldn't be able to drive home after that.

Hi

had mine couple of weeks ago, definitely helped in that I can stand up from sitting now without having to gather myself and breathe through the pain. Still in pain though, bending and standing still still hurt so not a magic cure.

i discharged myself from recovery as hospital so short of beds that the 9 theatres were completely backed up and full of operated on patients unable to move to recovery.

i was nil by mouth, had to walk into the theatre itself where I had to lie of my front with arms above my head like superman. then they put a cannula in my hand, put oxygen up my nose, mask on my mouth then put the sedation in then came to in recovery. My consultant always does them under sedation, but all Drs do.

Back wise I’d have been fine to drive and actually sedation wise I would have too but our hospital won’t let you leave until someone comes to get you.

Best of luck

I had these when I was younger. They didn't work sadly. I did find I woke up on the table mid-sedation though (they liked the painful bit enough to jolt me out of it) which is an odd memory to have

Thank you all for the replies.
Interesting that everyone so far has mentioned sedative as it doesn't seem to be offered here.

My first round of injection without sedation it was really really painful I was crying, the consultant said I was very brave, I didnt wanna b brave, had sedation next time

@nannapat58, I'm sorry you had such a negative experience. (I have to say, though, that I had a flexible sigmoidoscopy a few months back, and the pain was indescribable - my back pain is a 10 when it's really bad, but tends to pass fairly quickly, but there's still the residual pain until my muscles stop protesting and start to relax, which is a whole world of other pain, but this was really something else - I could feel the scope moving around and it was incredibly painful - I have scar tissue from endometriosis which has never been removed, and then there is the scar tissue from my multiple prolapse surgeries)
The pain of the flexi-sig was a constant gnawing pain throughout my gut.)
I hope that mine will be a bit more positive. I'm now thinking that if I don't feel great after it, I might need to book a hotel and stay overnight until I feel better.
I can do that, as I'd rather get it done than wait, even though my nearest hospital that offers it is around a 25 minute drive as opposed to the hour plus drive to the one that I'm more likely to get an appointment at.

Check they’d let you out though as ours literally have to hand you over to someone, I literally couldn’t have got out of the hospital without being collected