Anyone ever have a cortisone injection?

[Blondie]

I had a leg injury last November resulting in a large bone contusion. Due to an extra long healing process and after physical therapy and ultrasound massage that didn't work, I just had my first cortisone injection.

I hurt worse now than I did 6 months ago, what gives? I can hardly walk now! I was told that it might ache and be tender for a day or two, but I didn't think it would be this painful!

Any advice?

 

[ducklite]

I had them in my shoulder years ago after an accident, and they hurt more than helped. After the second one I chose not to try for a third.

Anne

 

[Blondie]

I don't think I'll have another, not if I have to go through this kind of pain!

 

[castleview]

I'm not a medical expert AT ALL so please don't yell at me for being way out there. But having been an athlete, I saw some get coritizone shots to get them through the rest of the meet. Because the pain dissipates, you tend to use that body part like everything was fine instead of listening to your body and possibly cause more damage. You should probably see a doctor to see if you reinjured yourself.

Hopefully a nurse or doctor will answer this. My experiences were merely seeing my fellow teammates get them and back then coaches weren't thinking about the long run. I cringed when I heard Andre Agassi had four for his last tennis match.

I do help you feel better though. I know how frustrating injuries could be.

 

[Blondie]

I just saw him today. That's where I got the injection. It didn't start hurting until around 8:30 tonight. I had the injection around 3 this afternoon.

If this doesn't help, I'll need another MRI to see why it's taking so long to heal. Seriously, I didn't think it would hurt like this, I thought maybe some mild aching, but not actual pain! Good thing he gave me a pain med RX.

Hopefully by tomorrow morning it'll be better.

Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[Micca]

Must be awful. I hope you feel better soon.

 

[piratesmate]

I had a couple in my knee after it gave out on me our first night at WDW. It really did help me - it did not get sore or ache after the shot. Basically I was able to walk without crutches for a couple weeks. I didn't start exercising or anything - mostly just walked around the house & at work. The doctor was really surprised that it even worked because the bone was so bad. In my case I ended up needing surgery anyway. It was an old sports injury - no cartilege at all in there, so it's just bone on bone.

I also had a couple shots in my shoulder after an injury. No soreness or ache with those either although I didn't get any relief of pain or symptoms with those shots.

I'd check with your doctor and let him/her know that it's actually worse now.

 

[Poohnatic]

I have a very high pain threshhold, but cortisone injections are one thing I can't stand. Heck, my doc who did 4 surgeries on my wrists (and knows my pain tolerance) gave me one when I broke my thumb and he was ready to call DH to come get me.

In my case, the pain lasted for 2 to 3 days. I'd alternate heat and ice. Since I can't tune the throbbing out, I try to sleep as much as possible. YMMV.

Most doctors will go with two shots in the space of a few weeks. Both of my orthopedists wouldn't go to a third-that's when we started talking about
what my options were. Here I am, 5 wrist surgeries for various things later.

I hope tomorrow morning brings less pain.

Suzanne

 

[Muushka]

Cortisone shots work great for tennis elbow

I am not afraid of doctors or shots. But I suffered with tennis elbow for more than 2 months (because I thought they would just tell me to do what I was already doing, ice and ibuprophen). Finally I could not stand it any more, so I went to the doc. He said he was not a huge fan of cortisone injections, but had great success with tennis elbow. So I got the shots and 2 days later, a miracle! No more pain!! It is now 2 months later and elbow is still doing great. So, if you ever have tennis elbow, don't hesitate to get the shot.

 

[shortbun]

I had one in the joint of my thumb because it was triggering. Yuhowza! That hurt like a ..-....!!!! Never again!!! Never again!!! I finally went to a massaage therapist who after two treatments had my thumb working just fine. That was four years ago and it's still good.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

When did you get the shot, Blondie? Lauri got a cortisone shot in her knee last year (heck, she's had a ton of them just about everywhere) but she said for about 2 days it felt like she had a swarm of angry bees in her knee. Then all of a sudden it went away and the pain they gave it to her for was greatly reduced. The doctor did tell her to stay off of it as much as possible for the first 24 hours to help with the pain.

ETA: Duh, you said in your second post that you got the shot today. Read ahead Obi I asked Lauri and she said it's completely normal to be in a lot of pain for the first 24-48 hours after a cortisone injection in some areas on your knee. But she said don't stress, she would take the short discomfort in exchange for how much it improved her mobility in her knee anyday. Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[Friendly Frog]

I have had them in my shoulder and my hip. For my shoulder they had two doctors there, pushing to sort of separate my shoulder ( hard to explain) they said so they could inject me deeply in between that area. Yes, it hurt but I was already so much pain at the time I almost could not stand it, so the shot was not much worse.They said they used a combination of drugs, one of which was to numb me now, and the the cortisone which I was told at the time would not help for about 24 hrs I did feel much better later on and was glad I did it.


Years later I developed a sciatica problem and physical therapy and other treatment plans did not work. I again tried the cortisone injection. It hurt more that anything I have ever had done before, made my whole leg feel like when you hit your funny bone and then to top it off it did no good at all.

Not sure if it works better for some things than for others, or maybe it depends on the skill level of the person and where they place the injection?

Hopefully for you it will just take a little time to start working.

 

[Blondie]

My Ortho did the injection. He did numb the area first before the injection. I did a lot of walking around afterwards, running errands, grocery shopping, etc. Maybe I shouldn't have!

I hope that when I wake up tomorrow the pain level will have decreased some.

Thanks again for the responses!

 

[mamajoan]

This is how I used to explain cortisone injections to my PT patients, usually shoulder, knee or back pain patients

"Ok.. so you are having more pain after the injection.. it should decrease over the next 24-48 hours. One of the reasons the pain increases, the doc has just pushed more fluid into an already inflamed/irritated area. As the medication is absorbed the swelling decreases as does the pain."

Some docs want you to put a hot pack, some a cold pack after the injection.. depends on the doc. I've had more success with cold.

Hope that helps Blondie... feel better soon!

 

[alanapapa]

I have a high pain threshold and I cannot stand these shots. I had one last year in my heel for a heel spur and my DW was amazed that it broght tears to my eyes. I knew what was coming and still could not adequately prepare. I do not know (nor have any desire to) why they hurt so much. I think I would rather have a root canal with no anesthesia than another cortisone shot.

 

[jenr812]

I am afraid to get these. I injured my rotator cuff AND my knee (both right side) and my doctor said that I may need cort. shots. I am almost willing to just live with the pain (as I have been since November ). I hope your pain subsides soon!!!

 

[eclectics]

It can take as long as several days to get relief, with it actually hurting more to start with. Hang in there. You should feel a difference soon.

 

[Planogirl]

I had one in a shoulder joint when I was having a big problem with it. It hurt like fire at first and it took 3 or 4 days before I started feeling some relief. I had to have some extensive physical therapy and I don't think that I could have made it without that shot.

Just give it some time and hopefully you'll start to see gradual improvement.

 

[DisnyMama]

A couple of years ago I was having really bad pain in the front of my right hip which they felt was arthritis probably due to being overweight. My Dr. gave me a series of cortisone shots around the area of pain (OUCH!) and within a few days the pain started to lessen and to this day I hardly have any pain in my hip. I only start to feel a twinge if I start heavy walking on the treadmill but that will disapear after if gets used to it.

 

[Blondie]

This morning the pain isn't as bad as it was lastnight! So I'm already feeling some relief! It's still sore though!