Soliciting opinions.
I experienced a C6-C7 slipped disc about two months ago. It severely impinged the left foraminal nerve and caused severe radiculopathic pain in my arm and shoulder. Baseline maybe 5-6 level pain escalating to 8-9, especially at night. I finally got in to see a neurosurgeon two weeks ago. He wanted to wait another six weeks before scheduling surgery, and in the meantime, prescribed gabapentin, PT, and a traction collar. He also referred me to his pain doctor for a spinal injection. He said that because I have such a concrete and easily identified injury, the injections would be especially likely to relieve the pain.
Good news: The gabapentin, PT and traction collar (plus time) have worked! The pain is down to maybe a 1-2, maybe bumping up to a 3-4 at the end of the day when I need to take another gabapentin. I've even been able to start running again, which is doing wonders for my sanity.
Question: Should I still get the injection? It potentially would allow me to get the pain down to zero and stop the gabapentin, and if (as I suspect) the disc is healing, everything might be healed once the injection wears off in a month or two. On the other hand, things are going well now, so maybe best not to upset the proverbial apple cart. Those injections do carry a small risk of complications or potentially making things worse.
Thoughts?