Anyone ever have a cortisone shot?

[lendaddy]

My wrist is still not ready for golf(ligament tear) and I was considering a cortisone shot to speed things up as I have a big golf tourney soon. I would say I am 60% right now and I was maybe 20% 2 weeks ago. It still hurts to swing the club Anyway, can anyone give me some first hand impressions of what to expect? How quickly do they work, is a ligament tear even helped by this, etc.. Thanks,

[RickM]

From what I've seen they work pretty quickly. My dad had this done on his shoulder... maybe once or twice.
Could it be true that it is still unknown why Cortisone reduces inflamation? Prolonged use does affect the immune system but one or two injections should be fine. However, your injury will still be there.

Hold on...."Calling Moses, please report to Lendaddy thread..."

[lendaddy]

"Hold on...."Calling Moses, please report to Lendaddy thread...""

lol, I have that coming

I am aware of the over-use issues, but this would be a onetime deal.

[john70t]

Not a "doc" but, I thought ligaments did not have blood supply and did not heal with time, no? They are the "bump-stops" for bone over-rotation. I thought that they can only be "cured" by stapling them to the bone end if they tear loose, or what the body does at last resort..training the muscle to only stretch so far.

Tendons will heal faster with vitamins(without iron) and tai-chi/richard simmons in the morning to get that synovial fluid (joint oil pressure) going. Overhydration is rare as well.
A quick recovery will keep the musclulature system balanced and you'll not get cartilage that's unevenly worn later on in life.

[Moses]

Partial ligament tears will heal with time.

Cortisone will reduce inflammation and thereby reduce pain. If it were me, I'd have no issues with the injection.

Load up on NSAIDS (Celebrex, Motrin, or something else) before you play. If you still have pain, playing in the golf tourney may delay your eventual recovery, but it's worth a shot. (pun intended! )

[lendaddy]

Based on what my doc said when I snapped my ACL, ligaments do have a blood supply and do heal. One of his biggest concerns when the made me a new one out of my hamstring was that it would "flow" maybe I misunderstood him?

[Moses]

Ligaments do have a vascular supply that aids healing. Sometimes with a complete tear, docs may use a cadaver graft that obviously has no blood supply. In that case, the donor ligament is simply a mechanical device.

Sometimes a torn ACL can be reattached while maintaining the ligaments vascular supply. Long recovery, but generally good result.

[cantdrv55]

I get cortisone shots every year or so on the top of left foot between the third and fourth toes because of a neuroma. Hurts like hell during and immediately after the shot but the pain subsides not too long after. Feet are extremely sensitive extremities but I don't think wrists are as much. My podiatrist recommends cortisone shots rather than surgery for removal of neuromas. Get the shot but remember that the relief you feel is artificial for a while until you're completely healed. This is just from personal experience.

[lendaddy]

Interesting, thanks guys. I was not aware that these shots were more a diversion from reality than an acyual healing aid. Maybe I'm better off playing with the pain so I can hear my body telling me when enough is enough. I thought these were steroid shots that actually sped the healing process, apparently not. Thanks.

[TSNAPCRACKLEPOP]

my shot preference would be Drambuie with one ice cube.

[RickM]

Lendad, Cortisone is a steroid. Not the anabolic kind though.

[RickM]

Good write-up:

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/drugs_doping/a/aa102700a.htm

[kmhemi]

I got them in my hands for carpal tunnel. Hurt like crap. They bent my wrist back and put the need in at the top of my wrist. The needle went in DEEP. Like others have said already, it hurst bad during the injection and right after but it goes away fast. I got a real cold sensation in my hands for a while. It did ease the pain for a while but it did come back.

[LeeH]

I had one in my shoulder. The doc put one leg across my lap... he later explained it keeps the patient from moving around too much! When I went to check out the girl at the desk said, "Wow! I usually know when people are getting cortisone shots, but I didn't hear you yell!"

It felt OK for a few days, but it didn't help my problem. Last year I had a physical and the doc offered to give me a cortisone shot in a persistant knot I've got in my back. Um, it's not that bad... yet.

[azasadny]

I had a Cortisone injection in my foot for a Morton'e Neuroma, and it hurt like hell and didn't help at all, just my .02 worth...

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I've had three in my tailbone (I have coccydynia). Hurts like hellfire for the first 2 days, then slowly tapers off until it actually starts working. The first one worked wonders for the first six months, then stopped like someone hit a switch. The second one did nothing except hurt. The doc wanted to try again, I told him to take a hike.

The third was done by a spine specialist, under fluoroscopy in the hospital (so he could see exactly where the needle was going into the joint). It worked pretty well but since then I've had other, more serious medical issues to deal with and don't have time to worry about minor things like chronic pain.

[cantdrv55]

Originally posted by azasadny
I had a Cortisone injection in my foot for a Morton'e Neuroma, and it hurt like hell and didn't help at all, just my .02 worth...

Hey Art, I have a Morton's Neuroma too. Are you thinking of having surgery to remove it or are you just going to live with the pain? I can't run/jog anymore or drive barefoot.

[azasadny]

cantdrv55,
I had the surgery on my left foot twice and the neuroma came back within a month both times! My orthopedist made me a set of orthotics and I wore them for two years and got about 80% relief. The orthotics wore out and I replaced them with a set of Phase-Four orthotics purchased over the Internet and they are great. I still can't walk barefoot or run any significant distance, but the pain is manageable. I feel for you, a neuroma is no fun at all. I hope this info helps!!

[cantdrv55]

Thanks for the info Art. I guess I'll be shopping for Phase 4 orthotics because I'm not about to have ineffective surgery anytime soon.