Has anyone had any Corticosteroid Injection Therapy?

Sounds painful and I'm not sure I want it but I would be interested to hear of anyone else's experiences with it. The problem is a painful right knee which I have had x-rayed last week and am going to the surgery tomorrow to find out what is going on in there.

The physio who looked at it last week mentioned the possibility of an injection into the knee, depending on what they find. I'm really not keen on the idea so if anyone has anything they could share about these things I'd be grateful. Did it hurt? Were there any side effects and, more importantly, did it relieve the pain?

I'm not at the needing to walk with a stick stage but it can feel sore after a reasonably long walk so I need to get it sorted out, somehow.

 

Pity Young Nudger is banned, he was an expert on knees

 

Are you planning on having children? Anymore children? Link between anything with (cort) in it and infertility. A few high profile footballers from the seventies were made infertile by cortizol injections.

 

Pain is a early sign of a problem ,my view of pain killing injections is just hiding the problem.
I have had a full knee replacement 14 months ago and I am just seeing the rewards.
I am waiting to get my other knee replaced.
My brother in Cornwall is having the same problem but his NHS treatment is recommended pain killing injections and physio, even though he is 7 years older.
My thoughts are is this a cheaper option.
The specialist who carried out the op told me the joint was absolutely knackered as it was bone to bone from cartilage removal from football injuries.
So for me the injections would be masking the problem.
I supose it all depends on your age ,but building up the knee muscles with cycling could help.
Best option would be an MRI which will pinpoint the problem.
However the NHS are running out of money sadly.

 

They are also walking with sticks.

 

What you said in your first reply. Agree just masking the problem.

 

My wife who has osteoarthritis has had them in her knee and wrist says there not too painful to have and give relief for upto 4 months but it is pain relief and not a cure as I'm sure your aware.

 

Had a operation on my right knee about 3 years ago and similar to what Bazza said I’ve lost some cartilage on my knee through wear and tear over the years the bone on bone is causing the pain but the specialist said I’m not ready for a new knee yet. I’ve had a cortisone injection in my knee and i didn’t feel any benefit and like some have said they only mask the problem.

 

Had 2 arthroscopies where they go in with the camera and have a look round. If they see anything minor that can be dealt with they do it there and then. They also suck out the crap such as worn bone. The arthroscopies left me almost pain free for around 18 mth. My surgeon said a knee comes in 3 bits, a front and 2 sides. I had a knackered front but decent sides. Why would you replace something 2/3 good? That's why I wasn't offered a new knee. First arthroscopy I was around 60'ish and they didn't tend to replace under 65. Roll on a few years and I have had 2 injections at New St, last one being 2018. Local anaesthetic is given before so is relatively pain free.
Currently I take Ibroprofen and Glucosamine, lost 3st in weight and now do around 3 x 5to 6 mile walks a week at pace. Am I pain free, No, but it's bearable and I am 75 so it's to be expected. Hope this helps.

 

Had one in my knee last September so I could make a weekend trip to London, suffered with osteoarthritis since 2013 got really bad last august so had an injection. I’d say it was uncomfortable not that painful however can’t say painless. Downside for me is i was still in pain afterwards but hard to assess if much better or worse but managed to get round London for the weekend however needed a knee brace as support. As others have said it is just pain relief and in December I had knee replacement surgery which has made a significant difference. Still suffer some pain but nothing compared to how it was. Need to find the cause but have the injection it might help.

 

Take their advice. My mrs had the injection in her knee. And tbh. Worked brilliantly. That was a few years ago. The transformation was far better than her or i expected. Almost instant relief.
Only quite recently (months) has she redeveloped the same issue. How many more have been a great succes, I'm not sure.
Wasn't a painful injection and no side effects btw.

 

Thanks to all who have replied to my questions above about this - really helpful (I think!). Quite a mixed bag of experiences and opinions and I'm still not sure what to do IF the physio says he thinks I need one. Will see what the x-rays say. To be honest the pain isn't that bad but I have two known contributory factors that will be making it worse.

One is my age - at 69 everything is gradually wearing out and thirty odd years of throwing myself around the goalmouth as a 'keeper many years ago will not have helped. I don't recall every getting badly kicked though, or severely twisting anything, so I can't blame old football injuries.

The second is my weight and I know I need to lose some. I could do with shedding 2 or 3 stones as they are bound to be putting strain on my joints. Appointment at the doctors is tomorrow so I'll decide then but I don't much feel like accepting any cortisone injections, if offered.

 

Way past that stage

 

My dad has it in his knee once every few months and it does him the world of good. Allows him to play golf too...

 

I had a cortisone injection in my knee when I was a teen. Honestly, one of the worst, most painful experiences of my life. The problem was getting the needle into the joint so there was a lot of jiggling it around which wasn't pleasant. Not just the pain but the sensation of the needle scraping on my bone

However, I had two shots in my shoulder just last month. Not sure if it was due to the location of the injection, but the needle was much smaller and although uncomfortable, nowhere near as bad as the knee. It could be similar now for knees as it was the late 1990s when I had mine done and stuff move on a lot in that time.

 

Sounds like stories I have heard before about this. He did ask me if I had any phobias about needles and I said no but that was only based on the normal jab in the upper arm for various things, plus the extraction of blood for testing. The thought of a much larger needle and more invasive injection doesn't sound appealing and I am more inclined to say No Thanks, until it gets to the stage where I really NEED it (if I do).

 

I had a steroid injection in mine, a while back. Meant to strengthen as well as relieve the pain. Didn't really do either, to be honest.
This is a common problem, which the NHS has less & less time & money for.

 

Yes when I went to the doc with a very painful elbow. He said it’s tennis elbow. Gave an injection straight away. The result was amazing. I’d imagine a knee joint would be very similar.

 

I've had a few over the years, always worked a treat . It stings though