Cortisone Injections
Discussion
Hi guys,
Recently been struggling with left lower back/hip pain. Had 8 weeks of physio which has improved everything but the pain.
Furthering on with the treatment and the next thing they seem to be wanting to try are these cortisone injections, any one had these? What do they do, do they help?
Not good for me as im terrified of needles
Recently been struggling with left lower back/hip pain. Had 8 weeks of physio which has improved everything but the pain.
Furthering on with the treatment and the next thing they seem to be wanting to try are these cortisone injections, any one had these? What do they do, do they help?
Not good for me as im terrified of needles
had several over the past 10 years for my knees.
Cortisone is injected via ultrasound scan into the inflamed part of the joint (in my case). it seems to ease the pain in my knees but i know I'm due for another knee cap scraping in the near future.
I'm pretty terrified of needles too and didn't think i could go through with it but the doctor who did mine was fantastic.
as he scanned my knee, he eased the needle in and through my knee (from top left to bottom right) but the first syringe was full of anaesthetic and i honestly didn't feel anything. when he'd reached his target, he swapped the syringes over and squirted the cortisone in. it feels a bit weird and made my knee feel pretty tight for a while but certainly has a beneficial effect for a few months.
luckily, you wont have to watch as its in your back.
Cortisone is injected via ultrasound scan into the inflamed part of the joint (in my case). it seems to ease the pain in my knees but i know I'm due for another knee cap scraping in the near future.
I'm pretty terrified of needles too and didn't think i could go through with it but the doctor who did mine was fantastic.
as he scanned my knee, he eased the needle in and through my knee (from top left to bottom right) but the first syringe was full of anaesthetic and i honestly didn't feel anything. when he'd reached his target, he swapped the syringes over and squirted the cortisone in. it feels a bit weird and made my knee feel pretty tight for a while but certainly has a beneficial effect for a few months.
luckily, you wont have to watch as its in your back.
Cortisone should reduce the inflammation in the joint.
I had 3 over a 12 month period to treat tennis elbow. 1st was effective for about 8 months, 2nd didn't have any effect, 3rd finally fixed it.
They can be quite painful after the anesthetic wears off - IME, the one that hurt the most was the one that actually worked.
I had 3 over a 12 month period to treat tennis elbow. 1st was effective for about 8 months, 2nd didn't have any effect, 3rd finally fixed it.
They can be quite painful after the anesthetic wears off - IME, the one that hurt the most was the one that actually worked.
I had one in my shoulder joint- the doctor who did it is a friend of the family.
They Just felt around the joint and jabbed the needle in!
It was the single most painful experience with a needle I have ever had. Painful and sickening in equal proportions as the fluid was pushed into my joint.
They Just felt around the joint and jabbed the needle in!
It was the single most painful experience with a needle I have ever had. Painful and sickening in equal proportions as the fluid was pushed into my joint.
I had one about 30 minutes ago in my shoulder as I have calcified tendonitis, have to say it wasn't that bad - the pain from the tendonitis was unbearable and I couldn't move the joint without sucking air, I've never had an issue with needles though. What hurt and I mean hurt more than anything I've ever experienced was moving the joint around to get the stuff into it, that made my eyes water. But it already feels a little better, I'll let you know how the next couple of days go.
I have had one in my hip under ultrasound guidance, one in the elbow and one in the hand for trigger thumb.
Easy peasy. The actual fluid has a local and is pushed out as the needle goes in. As a result, funny sharp pain initially then a feeling of numbness and pushing. The needles are big, just don't look. I have loads of needles through my diabetes so I am more interested that scared although I know the people who I can't inject in front of.
Made a big difference in each of my defective bendy bits. My hip is trochanteric bursitis and having the jab allows me to come off a cocktail of morphine, Tramadol, and duloxotine. It works that well. Of course, now I can feel everything else hurt.
Easy peasy. The actual fluid has a local and is pushed out as the needle goes in. As a result, funny sharp pain initially then a feeling of numbness and pushing. The needles are big, just don't look. I have loads of needles through my diabetes so I am more interested that scared although I know the people who I can't inject in front of.
Made a big difference in each of my defective bendy bits. My hip is trochanteric bursitis and having the jab allows me to come off a cocktail of morphine, Tramadol, and duloxotine. It works that well. Of course, now I can feel everything else hurt.
No ultrasound needed for knee steroid injections, and not really for sub-acromial shoulder injections either. It should be relatively painless if done by someone who knows what they are doing. Even a little local anaesthetic hurts as it's going in, so I've moved away from this to a one-needle technique.
They hurt if the technician "hunts" for the right spot.
as for a kneecap "scape" Gosh how I hate that historical term, there's no actual scraping involved. Lots of people still refer to it as a scrape, imagine someone putting you down for brain surgery and telling you it involved a "scrape" !!
Will
The_Doc said:
No ultrasound needed for knee steroid injections, and not really for sub-acromial shoulder injections either. It should be relatively painless if done by someone who knows what they are doing. Even a little local anaesthetic hurts as it's going in, so I've moved away from this to a one-needle technique.
They hurt if the technician "hunts" for the right spot.
as for a kneecap "scape" Gosh how I hate that historical term, there's no actual scraping involved. Lots of people still refer to it as a scrape, imagine someone putting you down for brain surgery and telling you it involved a "scrape" !!
Will
I had ultrasound on my knee - was interesting to watch on the monitor. As for "scrape" my consultant bands that term around quite happily! He is pretty old school though. Last time it was done they just filled my knee up with fluid and all the "bits" came out with it.They hurt if the technician "hunts" for the right spot.
as for a kneecap "scape" Gosh how I hate that historical term, there's no actual scraping involved. Lots of people still refer to it as a scrape, imagine someone putting you down for brain surgery and telling you it involved a "scrape" !!
Will
pidsy said:
The_Doc said:
No ultrasound needed for knee steroid injections, and not really for sub-acromial shoulder injections either. It should be relatively painless if done by someone who knows what they are doing. Even a little local anaesthetic hurts as it's going in, so I've moved away from this to a one-needle technique.
They hurt if the technician "hunts" for the right spot.
as for a kneecap "scape" Gosh how I hate that historical term, there's no actual scraping involved. Lots of people still refer to it as a scrape, imagine someone putting you down for brain surgery and telling you it involved a "scrape" !!
Will
I had ultrasound on my knee - was interesting to watch on the monitor. As for "scrape" my consultant bands that term around quite happily! He is pretty old school though. Last time it was done they just filled my knee up with fluid and all the "bits" came out with it.They hurt if the technician "hunts" for the right spot.
as for a kneecap "scape" Gosh how I hate that historical term, there's no actual scraping involved. Lots of people still refer to it as a scrape, imagine someone putting you down for brain surgery and telling you it involved a "scrape" !!
Will
NICE said:
Invasive treatments for knee osteoarthritis
1.4.10 Do not refer for arthroscopic lavage and debridement[3] as part of treatment for osteoarthritis, unless the person has knee osteoarthritis with a clear history of mechanical locking (as opposed to morning joint stiffness, 'giving way' or X-ray evidence of loose bodies). [2008, amended 2014]
ref: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg177/chapter/1-Re...1.4.10 Do not refer for arthroscopic lavage and debridement[3] as part of treatment for osteoarthritis, unless the person has knee osteoarthritis with a clear history of mechanical locking (as opposed to morning joint stiffness, 'giving way' or X-ray evidence of loose bodies). [2008, amended 2014]
I had them into (around)spinal nerve roots on five occasions, once at three vertebrae simultaneously. No significant pain apart from when the needle was turned to touch the sciatic nerve. Some even worked!
Also had one into the basal thumb joint. It worked but at the time, it was spectacularly painful. AFAIK, no local was used, before or during.
Also had one into the basal thumb joint. It worked but at the time, it was spectacularly painful. AFAIK, no local was used, before or during.
Had one in my shoulder for 'frozen shoulder' after physio failed to do anything. GP offered to do it in his surgery, I declined & opted for ultrasound guided one at the hospital.
They sprayed something on my shoulder to freeze it, told me to expect a light scratch & then I nearly fainted lol!
To be fair, the Doc didn't mess around, he wapped the injection in while I was wobbling around so his time wasn't wasted!
Everybody I had spoken too had told me how painful they were, clearly I wouldn't have felt the injection itself but no pain at all afterwards & it seems to have done the job.
I ended up in A&E as they had no medical staff to see me, they were concerned I'd nearly fainted & I ended up having blood pressure, ECG's & all sorts before they worked out I just don't like being messed about with & sent me home!
They sprayed something on my shoulder to freeze it, told me to expect a light scratch & then I nearly fainted lol!
To be fair, the Doc didn't mess around, he wapped the injection in while I was wobbling around so his time wasn't wasted!
Everybody I had spoken too had told me how painful they were, clearly I wouldn't have felt the injection itself but no pain at all afterwards & it seems to have done the job.
I ended up in A&E as they had no medical staff to see me, they were concerned I'd nearly fainted & I ended up having blood pressure, ECG's & all sorts before they worked out I just don't like being messed about with & sent me home!
I had a dye injected in to my hip socket under X-ray. It didn't hurt at all but when the needle scratched in to something it was a little like fingernails being run down a blackboard, not painful but just something not funny about it.
Shortly after I had quite a few cortisone injections in to my left hip under ultrasound. They had to target a few specific areas so had to be a little bit stabby. Again, not painful as such just a bit uncomfortable and not fun. They also injected a few other places ....something like some muscle/tendon that wraps around the sciatic nerve.....now that did hurt but wouldn't phase me if I had to have it done again.
For me, it was pretty much instant relief, by the time I left the place movement was back to normal and had no horrible pains which previously had been rather unpleasant. It lasted around 4 months until the pain returned and then ended up having hip arthroscopy in Cambridge
Shortly after I had quite a few cortisone injections in to my left hip under ultrasound. They had to target a few specific areas so had to be a little bit stabby. Again, not painful as such just a bit uncomfortable and not fun. They also injected a few other places ....something like some muscle/tendon that wraps around the sciatic nerve.....now that did hurt but wouldn't phase me if I had to have it done again.
For me, it was pretty much instant relief, by the time I left the place movement was back to normal and had no horrible pains which previously had been rather unpleasant. It lasted around 4 months until the pain returned and then ended up having hip arthroscopy in Cambridge
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