"An experimental treatment that involves spinal injections of ozone gas and steroids relieved pain https in over twothirds of  people with back problems related to a herniated disc. This condition occurs when the cushions or discs that serve as shock absorbers for the spine become inflamed and bulge or break open. When inflamed discs press against nearby nerves. People with this condition can experience pain numbness and weakness in the back buttocks and legs. None of the people in this study had been helped by other nonsurgical therapies and supporters say the new therapy could become a standard treatment for such patients. But a back pain https specialist who spoke to WebMD says that further research is needed. In the study  people  reported no pain at six months. About another third reported less frequent episodes of low back pain maybe once a day says researcher Thomas Lehnert MD an assistant professor of radiology at Frankfurt University in Germany. Another  reported only a little improvement with pain persisting. And  had no improvement or their pain got worse. A few patients resorted to back surgery. Continue Reading Below you might like Still ozone therapy could even help many patients with unrelenting back pain to avoid surgery Lehnert tells WebMD. Before the treatment patients had tried everything without success and were considering an operation he says. Studies suggest that ozone therapy works by reducing inflammation shrinking herniated discs and relieving pressure on the nerves bringing pain signals to the brain https The steroid further reduces inflammation. Lehnert presented the findings here at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America. Pain From Herniated Disc As many as  of adults in the U.S. suffer from lower back pain https_assetscontrolled_contenthealthwisemajorLow_Back_PainTopic_Overview.xml at some point in their lives and for many the cause is a herniated disc. About  of people with herniated discrelated pain will improve within two months without surgical treatment. Of those who dont improve only  will need surgery. The vast majority improve with physical therapy steroid injections chiropractic https_assetscontrolled_contenthealthwisespecialChiropracticTopic_Overview.xml treatment etc. says A. Nick Shamie MD of UCLA Spine Center a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Its possible ozone treatment will someday be one of those options Shamie tells WebMD. But because so many people with pain from herniated discs get better on their own it is hard to prove that treatments like ozone therapy actually work he says. And in this study its unknown whether it was ozone the steroids or a combination of the two that helped patients he says. Theres no way to be sure Lehnert says. A headtohead comparison of treatments is planned to answer that question. Ozone Therapy for Back Pain Ozone therapy was developed In Italy. Its been used to treat thousands of lower back pain patients mainly in Europe in recent years. Lehnert says he added the steroid to reduce inflammation because  of the pain is due to inflammation in the herniated area. Using computer imaging for guidance the doctor guides the needle used to deliver the ozonesteroid treatment directly into the herniated disc. Patients require no more than a local anesthetic. While patients in the study only got one injection more may be needed he says. Importantly imaging studies showed patients disc volumes shrunk by  to  in the study. If you reduce the volume it wont be pushing against the nerve causing pain Lehnert says. There were no serious complications and no one had an allergic reaction https_assetscontrolled_contenthealthwisesymptomAllergic_ReactionTopic_Overview.xml. Some people complained of pain around the area in the back where the needle was injected it went away after a few days. In other studies there have been reports of increased pain and bleeding in the eyes Lehnert says. Jeffrey Peterson MD professor of radiology at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville Fla. says the technique is promising. Were already using similar procedures for steroid injections says Peterson who moderated the session at which the findings were presented. Whats different here is the medical ozone. These findings were presented at a medical conference. They should be considered preliminary as they have not yet undergone the peer review process in which outside experts scrutinize the data prior to publication in a medical journal."