Prick*

From my doctor:

I had asked someone to phone you about this so here is the text of that. Please let her know that the MRI does demonstrate a disc herniation which I think accounts for her pain it is something that I think will still resolve over time. If she wishes better pain control for now she might consider an epidural steroid injection. If she has questions about this let me know. The epidural steroid injection might help decrease inflammation and swelling and lessen pain while we wait for this to get better.What it means is that the disc has protruded out beyond its normal confines and is more in the middle of the canal but is to the side some and may be coming in contact with the nerve that could cause the buttock pain. Typically this type of pain would go all the way down the leg but right now it doesn't appear to be that way for you. So in general these get better on their own most of the time without surgery. The issue is pain control. There haven't been any therapies proven to shorten the course of time it takes to recover. So the purpose of the epidural steroid injection is to improve pain control until it is clear that this is improving on its own.

*I was referring to the injection, not the doctor, btw.