I feel your pain (cervical, not lumbar). I myself had to have my C5/6 disc removed and fused last year because of a very bad disc in that area. So I very much understand what you have been going through.
In general, surgery is the last option. While you had good results with your L5/6 surgery, there are substantial differences between cervical and lumbar disc surgery. You probably had a lumbar laminectomy - in which they remove the lamina, which creates a channel, or sorts, in the lumbar spine. By removing this piece of bone, the channel (which was narrowed by the herniated disc) is opened, which often relieves the symptoms. This is not done (generally) in the cervical spine. In general, if you have a herniated cervical disc, the disc is removed and the two adjacent vertebra are fused. A piece of bone from your hip or from a deceased donor is used, and occasionally a plate and screws are inserted as well. So the two procedures are very different. Many find their symptoms are relieved with both surgeries. But, in general, all more conservative measures (corticosteroid injections included) are generally tried first, since they most often involve less risk with substantial beneft. So physicians will generally recommend injections first if they think there is any possibility of improvement with them.
The surgeries that you could have, furthermore, can vary substantially depending on where your principal symptoms are related to. If, for instance, the herniated disc is responsible, a discectomy and fusion could be performed. If, on the other hand, the neural narrowing is the culprit, the surgeon could attempt to open up this foramen. So the potential surgeries are varied.
With the surgery comes increased risk, so your physician probably wants to try the injections first. Some of the reported side-effects with the injections include: headaches, facial flushing, insomnia, low-grade fever, and transient increased neck/back or extremity pain. But they also often bring relief.
So I would recommend that you consider the injections. If they work, then terrific. My surgery, while it was a success, has still left me with some neck pain, and if you get an anterior discectomy and fusion (like I did), and you receive donor bone and no plates or screws, you are likely to be stuck in a neck brace, 24 hours a day, for close to 6 weeks. That was not at all pleasant.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Take care.
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