Wellness

[novamc1]

https://www.postbulletin.com/life/health/mayo-clinic-q-a-treating-osteoarthritis-with-corticosteroid...

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Dear Mayo Clinic: I have osteoarthritis in my knee that continues to worsen. Would a steroid injection help my knee pain? How long does the treatment last, and how often can it be repeated, if necessary?

Corticosteroid medications are powerful drugs that can be useful in decreasing pain and inflammation in various musculoskeletal conditions, including joint problems such as osteoarthritis. Depending on your health and the severity of your symptoms, the effects of a corticosteroid injection can vary quite a bit. If the injection decreases or eliminates your pain, you may be able to get another injection if your symptoms return. Because of the possibility of serious side effects, though, the number of injections — and how often you can receive them — is limited.

A corticosteroid shot helps relieve joint pain by decreasing inflammation in and around a joint. These medications are used in people who have osteoarthritis because the disease frequently leads to joint pain, tenderness and swelling, especially in the hands, knees, hips and spine. The injections also are commonly prescribed for people who have pain due to other disorders, such as tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, gout, bursitis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Getting a corticosteroid shot usually does not require an overnight stay. Rather, an office visit to your health care provider usually will suffice. Before the injection, the area around the injection site is cleaned thoroughly with a special cleaning solution. Your health care provider may apply an anesthetic spray to numb the area where the needle is inserted. To make sure the needle is placed correctly, your health care provider may use ultrasound or a type of X-ray called fluoroscopy to watch where the needle goes inside your body.

After the needle is inserted, the medication is released into the injection site. Typically, these shots include the corticosteroid medication to relieve pain and inflammation over time, as well as an anesthetic to provide immediate pain relief.

How long the pain relief from a corticosteroid injection lasts depends largely on your individual health situation. For some people, the effects may last only a week or two. Ohers may be symptom-free for several months or more.

Corticosteroids can effectively relieve symptoms such as joint pain, tenderness, and stiffness, but they are not without risks. For some people, the shot may cause a flare of pain and inflammation in the joint just after it is given. In most cases, these symptoms fade within 48 hours of receiving the injection.

Although uncommon, longer-lasting complications can include nerve damage, joint infection, damage to nearby tendons, and thinning of the cartilage and bones near the injection site. Some people may have temporary pain relief due to the numbing medicine commonly used with these shots but not long-term pain relief. Also, people who take blood thinners to treat stroke, and heart or clotting disorders, may not be able to receive corticosteroid injections safely while on those medications.

Some evidence indicates that repeated corticosteroid shots do not change the way arthritis in the spine progresses over time. Chronic use of the shots eventually can cause cartilage within a joint to deteriorate, resulting in permanent joint damage. Because of that, these injections usually are not given more often than once every six weeks. It also typically is recommended that people receive corticosteroid injections no more than three or four times a year.

Review the benefits and risks of a corticosteroid injection with your health care provider to help you decide if it's right for your situation. — Dr. George Pujalte, Family Medicine and Sports Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla.

[godi]

I get these shots in my knees every other year. I have not had any issues. They take the edge off my pain. 

[cherry]

I have only had 1 in my shoulder ,a nd it worked wonders. , am afraid of  of this substance

[novamc1]

I was  hobbled with pain in one knee about 10 years ago.  Ortho doctor gave me a choice between a shot and physical therapy.  I chose the therapy.  Took a few sessions of therapy and continued doing the leg exercises on my own.

Haven't had a knee problem since, even though X-rays showed almost no cartilage left in my knee area--probably due to strenuous running and aerobic class exercise when I was younger.  Building up and strengthening muscles above the knee seemed to be the solution.

My athletic husband received many corticosteroid shots over the years for all sorts of physical injuries and pain.........the relief didn't last long or make much of a difference in his life.   He'd go right back to strenuous sports every single day and later wound up with a series of  replacement surgeries on shoulders, ankles, hip and hands.

If physical therapy is an option, I'd try the therapy sessions every time before the shots.

[PINKdogWOOD]

I have osteo in both hands but never had shot for them - yet anyway. But I have had shots in each shoulder for arth& tendonitis. Wow, they really helped for sure.

[morganjen]

I've heard that it can actually accelerate the arthritis process by taking these shots. Though I may have to do something like that in the near future. I'm scheduled for physical therapy and ultrasound on my knee this week.

[chrystaltree]

   .  In the past I had the spinal injections and injections to both knees and they were a life saver. I have spinal stenosis and osteoarthritis in both knees (I have since tkr on one knee) and I was constant pain.  The pain affected my mobility.  I felt like an old lady.  Physicaly therapy didn't help me at all; not for my back and not for my knees.   The injections gave me my life back.  I could only have them every 4 months and I was fortunate in that they worked for me and I got pain relief for about 3 months.  There are two types of steroid injections.  The steroid injections in the doctor's office gave me relief for about a week so my orthopedic doctor ordered injections into the joint, they are done in the interventional radiology department of a hospital.  Under radiological guidance so they can inject the steroid into the joint where it's needed.  I have had one knee replaced and the other knee has been bothering me, it's getting worse but I don't want to have replacement surgery late summer or fall 2020.  I plan to have a knee injection in early Dec. to get through the winter without pain.  Honestly, I know many people with OA and several people who have hip or knee replacement surgery and not a single one got any relief from physicial therapy.  It's one of the things we joke about.  12 weeks of PT.....the $$$ copay....and you get nothing out of it.  However, some insurance companies and some orthopods require PT before they allow the injections.  

[Jk9]

I have had injections in my knee, hip and shoulders. The injections helped my tendonitis and joint inflammation. The injection did not help one shoulder but I had completely torn two ligaments in my rotator cuff and the joint itself is so damaged that I am having joint replacement surgery next month. The injections make me lose sleep and feel "strange"  so I avoid them until my pain gets bad enough . 

[customerqvc2]

I've had the shots in my knee and once in my hip area.  I've also had physical therapy on my shoulder and knee.  It really depends on the cause and possible rehab if you should get the shot and rehab or just the shot or just the rehab.  I always talk those things out with my ortho doctor.  For instance, bursitis works best with the injection.  A knee injury often does better with physical rehab.