We see many clients in our office after “failed” cortisone shots.
Just the other day – a woman came in frustrated because she had a cortisone shot to her shoulder – which did nothing – and the next step suggested for her was surgery – something she did NOT want.
When you’ve got joint pain that won’t go away, especially after trying lots of physical therapy, your doctor might recommend you get a cortisone shot.
Cortisone shots are often prescribed for things like back pain, bursitis, bulging discs, cartilage tears, osteoarthritis, tendinitis, and many other conditions that are perceived to be inflammatory in nature.
While every single one of these conditions can cause things to be inflamed…
It doesn’t mean that inflammation is your underlying problem.
If something else is causing any of these structures to get irritated and inflamed, then your cortisone injection won’t work. At the very best it will provide you temporary relief, but the problem will ultimately come back in 6-12 months’ time.
Cortisone shots also come with many potential problems and side effects. So you really want to be sure that it’s necessary before you get one.
The list includes anything from cartilage damage – death of nearby bone – joint infection – nerve damage – temporary facial flushing – temporary flare of pain and inflammation in the joint – temporary increase in blood sugar – tendon weakening or rupture – 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.
And none of these side effects account for human error with the procedure. If your doctor is “off” with his/her injection – you could end up with unnecessary tissue trauma and pain because your shot wasn’t injected correctly.
So when it comes to cortisone shots, you really want to make sure that…
- The root source of your problem is - indeed - inflammation
- And that you definitely need one (aka there is no other natural alternative)
The reason why so many cortisone injections “fail” is because quite often – they weren’t needed in the first place.
Even though the actual pain you are experiencing might be due to inflammation, the underlying cause leading to the inflammation could be something else entirely.
Cortisone shots are used to address inflammation. But 80% of the time the musculoskeletal pain you’re experiencing is due to a mechanical or movement problem. So while the symptoms you’re experiencing could be due to inflammation, the root cause of your issue could be due to something else. In this case, the cortisone shot will not help – or worse – provide you with temporary relief that leads you to think it did.
Let me explain with a bit of scientific research.
Studies show that 70-80% of people over the age of 50 have a bulging disc on their MRI. 60% have a meniscus tear in their knee. These findings are considered normal as you age. But the research also says that not all of these people experience pain…
So you can have two people with the exact same MRI findings – and one person will be perfectly fine while the other can barely walk.
This is how we know that “the finding” (a bulging disc or meniscus tear for example) isn’t necessarily the problem. The source of the problem is what is causing that bulge or tear to get annoyed – and 80% of the time it’s going to be something like a faulty movement pattern or “mechanical issue” – such as poor mobility or stability leading to some compensatory movement strategies in your body.
When you don’t move well, structures like normally occurring disc bulges and meniscus tears can get irritated.
For example…
Let’s say you have a bulging disc in your back. If you sit for most of the day, travel a lot for work, or have a job that involves a lot of repetitive lifting – these types of activities are known to really aggravate a bulging disc. If all you do is inject cortisone to calm down the irritation, you won’t be fixing the real problem – which in this case is your daily movement habits. After about 6 months of returning to all these activities again, the pain WILL come back.
The good news is that there are ways to solve this type of problem (and others) naturally, and without a cortisone injection.
But the important thing for you to realize here is that if you did get a cortisone shot recently and it appears to have “failed”, the last thing you want to do is get another one or resort to an even more invasive procedure.
So, if you’ve recently had a cortisone shot and it didn’t work, it could very well be that you never actually needed it, or that the wrong problem (inflammation) was being addressed instead of the underlying cause.
If you are considering something like a cortisone shot, it’s always a good idea to get a second opinion to make certain you really need it and that it’s the best course of action for your problem.
People come to us ALL the time for second opinions about this sort of thing. They want to make sure they don’t have a mechanical problem disguised as inflammation.
If that’s you – the best way to speak to a specialist at my clinic and get a second opinion is to apply for a FREE Discovery Session.
The purpose of this free session is to:
- See if we can help and if you're a good fit for what we do
- Make sure we're a good fit for YOU - if help is what you're looking for!
Trupti graduated with a Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from UNC- Chapel Hill in 2001. She has furthered her studies with numerous post-graduate courses focusing on the Neck, shoulder, knee, and back, with a strong emphasis in manual therapy. Recently completed courses in Maitland-Australian Physiotherapy Seminars (Levels 1- 5), has afforded her an excellent way to relieve pain and help people get moving, active and healthy quickly and effectively.
With 20+ years of experience in Physical Therapy, Trupti has practiced in various orthopedic and sports focused clinical settings, in both the Raleigh-Durham, NC and DC regions. She has been Director of multiple Physical therapy Clinics in DC and also worked with some renowned specialists at Georgetown University Hospital in DC. During her years of service, Trupti has had the privilege of caring for a wide variety of clients: from school-aged children to retirees; from homemakers to business professionals; from weekend warriors to professional athletes.
Trupti is an avid fan of the outdoors, art, traveling and of course the Tar Heels. She enjoys spending time with her niece and nephew.
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