What are Cortisone shots used for?

Cortisone shots are often solutions for pain. Cortisone shots are injections to eliminate pain and swelling.

They're most commonly injected into joints. Hips, ankles, elbows, knees, shoulders, wrist, fingers, toes or spinal injections are becoming more common when visiting your physician for joint pain.

These injections normally have a corticosteroid medication and a local anesthetic to help with inflammation and numb the area.

How long do Cortisone shots last?

Shots last from 6 weeks to 6 months.  This is not a cure or solution to your issue but something to take inflammation down. 

Are Cortisone shots bad for you?

Most patients don’t know what long term effects can happen with continuous use of steroidal injections. This is why medical doctors typically limit the number of cortisone shots and don’t recommend getting these more than every six weeks and no more than 3-4x per year.

What are the risks with a cortisone shot?

• Cartilage damage
• Bone Death
• Infections
• Nerve damage or death
• Temporary facial redness
• Temporary flare of pain and inflammation in the joint (hmmm, isn’t this what we are trying to avoid?)
• Temporary increase in blood sugar (diabetics beware)
• Tendon weakening or rupture (steroids can weaken structures)
• Thinning of nearby bone (osteoporosis)
• Thinning of skin and soft tissue around the injection site
• Whitening or lightening of the skin around the injection site

So wouldn’t it be easier to find out why your inflammation is happening and get the reason taken care of instead of putting a steroid in your body?

There are natural remedies to take down inflammation. There may be lifestyle changes to make sure inflammation is kept at bay. Please consider trying methods that can help keep your body working efficiently instead of putting a band-aid on the area and potentially causing more problems.

Most common conditions Cortisone shots are injected for:

• Back pain
• Bursitis
• Gout
• Osteoarthritis
• Psoriatic arthritis
• Rheumatoid arthriitis
• Reactive arthritis
  
  Health is not an event, it is a journey and one that can take some time to figure out what your body needs and start rehabilitation. Our bodies evolve and sometimes slowly.

You don’t expect to get a six pack from going to the gym once or be thin by eating a healthy meal occasionally. Pain and body healing is the same. It will happen but the solution is not going to be as fast as you like. Taking short cuts may feel good at the time but make things worse later on.

This office helps people become healthier, stronger and smarter. Contact us today!

References: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cortisone-shots/about/pac-20384794

https://www.verywellhealth.com/are-cortisone-injections-bad-for-you-2549575

https://sportdoctorlondon.com/how-long-does-it-take-for-a-cortisone-shot-to-work/