Epidural injections may provide temporary relief from pain from bulging discs, but certainly are not worth $1800 out of pocket.
Try other conservative therapies such as home traction on an inversion table (available at sporting goods stores), gentle exercise, swimming therapy, and warm water baths.

I have 3 herniated disks, had 1 repaired in 3 years ago. Mine is in my neck, but I figure there isnt much difference. I had a fusion on mine. They removed the disks between c-5 and c-6 and fused the vertebrea together with a piece of bone from my hip. Tip... Research your doctors before you let one fix it. My surgeon done more harm than good (this is my opinion) my doctor now says that my fusion in narrowing on my spine. I have numbness and tingling with loss of use in both my arms each time my neck pops. I believe with all my heart that my pain would be gone if my doctor would of cared so dont take my bad experience and get negative over it... Please. I am only 29 years old and I have been in pain for 10 years. I dont know long you have hurt, but you dont want to go through this any longer than you have to. I trust my new doctor to be facing the knife again. I new nothing about my previous doctor... Big mistake.
I wish you all the luck, and pray you will get better. They have new ways to remove disks without cutting you open, but I am not sure of how it works, or where all it is being practiced. I found it on the internet. Good luck to you, feel free to contact me, hope I was of some help

They do not seem to think it is anything major - but let me tell you ..My pain is major - I have sciatica pain in the hip and in my lower back as well as numbness in my mid back . Now how do you rate the severity by the size of the bulge - they said it is entering the neural foramen whatever that is - but not hurting a nerve - ok why am I going to like die now as I write this?

Hey there, i'm a 19 year old medical student who last year suffered from a pretty severe disc herniation (l4/5), resulting in severe acute pain and siatica. I hope I can give you some relatively unbiased advice since I live in the uk and our healthcare is free. The doctors were torn between either surgery or a more conservative approach, and in the end they decided on corticosteroids (oral) which helped it to clear up within a month or two, and I have been asymptomatic for 6 months now - ask your doctor about the oral corticosteroid option, and make sure they don't just do the more expensive procedure (apologies if that is not often the case - as I say I do not have much knowledge of the us health care system).
Hope it helps

Besides my 3 herniated disk, my fusion is pressing 1/3 into my spnal cord. No damage yet, but doc say the slightest bump to my head wil cause a spinal cord injury. I find out on the 17th when surgery will be. His words to me were " u have a very impressive mri test" in this case impresive isn't good. Doc is shocked I havent allready caused damange to my spine. Wish me luck!!! Mother of 2 small childen, they need me just s much as I need them