Look, @phillis, I won’t get into a doctor-bashing debate. I don’t have a gigantic list of links in rebuttal supporting the safety and efficacy of labor epidurals, but I have studied the subject.
Everything you posted about labor epidurals seems to be anecdotal web commentaries much like this very page—nobody doubts the sincerity of the writers but little can be concluded. We’ve seen and heard it all before. You should look at peer-reviewed scientific data published by American Society of Anesthesiologists or Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology. Since childbirth itself is a more serious risk factor for lower back problems, it’s not a simple question.
But yes, an epidural needle (scary-looking thing: 17 or 18-gauge and at least 3–½ inches long!) can cause minor, temporary local injury to connective tissues, including the pain-sensitive periosteum where the needle might contact bone. In the case of lumbar injections the needle is nowhere near the spinal cord, which ends halfway down your back, or the lumbar disks unless they’re bulging rearward. It can cause a so-called spinal headache only if it accidentally punctures the dura by going too deep—unlikely in experienced hands.
I stand by my earlier assertions. Sorry, @phillis, but it turns out my patients overwhelmingly agree with me. I’ve asked them.
I don’t regard epidural steroid injections for low back pain with the same enthusiasm, however, that I do for labor epidurals—mainly because efficacy is way less of a sure thing as explained previously.