Cortisone shots are injections that may help relieve pain and inflammation in a specific area of your body. They are most commonly given into joints such as your ankle, knee, hip, elbow, wrist and hands. Cortisone shots usually include a corticosteroid medication and a local anesthetic.
Cortisone shots may be part of a treatment for a number of diseases, conditions and diagnosis including:
- Baker’s Cyst
- Bursitis
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Chondromalacia
- De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis
- Frozen Shoulder
- Gout
- Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Lupus
- Morton’s Neuroma
- Myofascial Pain Syndrome
- Osteoarthritis
- Plantar Fascitis
- Psoriatic Arthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Rotator Cuff Injuries
- Sarcoidosis
- Tendinitis
- Tennis / Golfer’s Elbow
Cortisone may have associated risk of complications, such as:
- Osteonecrosis – Death of nearby bone
- Joint Infection
- Nerve damage
- Thinning of soft tissue and skin around injection site
- Temporary flare up of pain and inflammation in the joint
- Tendon weakening or rupture
- Osteoporosis – thinning of nearby bone
- Lightening of skin around the injection site
Repeated use of cortisone shots may cause deterioration of the cartilage within a joint. This is the reason doctors typically limit the number of shots into a joint to no more often than every 6 weeks and usually not more than 3 or 4 times a year. One may need to stop taking blood thinners for several days before a shot to reduce the risk of bleeding or bruising.
The doctor may apply an anesthetic spray to numb the area where the needle is inserted. In some cases, ultrasound or fluoroscopy maybe used to watch the needle placed in exactly the right spot. The cortisone shot can be helpful to the physical therapy process when the pain is unbearable and exercise is not tolearable. The physical or occupational (hand) therapist can also be very helpful in keeping an eye out for cortisone injections side effects.