If you are a sports person prone to overuse injuries or chronic conditions such as arthritis, you have probably heard about cortisone injections or discussed it with your doctor. Inflamed joints make your daily activities less enjoyable. Hamilton Interventional Pain Management Associates uses cortisone injections as the first step in treating patients without surgery to eliminate inflammation and relieve pain. Cortisone injections are commonly administered to joints, including the knee, hip, shoulder, wrist, or spine, to relieve pain and inflammation. The treatment is generally affordable, safe, and offers fast relief. Read on to understand how cortisone works and when it works best.

What Exactly Is Cortisone?

Cortisone refers to a synthetic version of cortisol, a steroid naturally produced by the adrenal gland and released to the bloodstream to help relieve stress. Cortisone works similarly to cortisol but has a high range of strength. These chemicals are anti-inflammatory, suppress your immunity, and relieve inflammation in irritated tissues.

How Does Cortisone Injection Work?

This is an orthopedic treatment in which cortisone is injected directly into your site of inflammation. Cortisone is used to relieve pain and is often confused with pain-relieving medicines. However, cortisone is an anti-inflammatory that functions by preventing collagen production. The cortisone injection shuts down the collagen-producing cells in the tendon or joint. This helps to suppress inflammation, calm your nerves and ultimately relieve pain. Also important to note is that cortisone does not heal the underlying issue causing the inflammation. 

What Conditions Are Treated with Cortisone Injections?

Cortisone injections play an essential place in orthopedic care. They offer effective short-term inflammation and pain relief caused by several conditions. The injections are commonly used to ease pain in your shoulder, spine, ankle, knee, hip, wrist, and elbow joints. Generally, musculoskeletal-related problems that cortisone shots treat include; gout, bursitis, back pain, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and post-traumatic arthritis. You can also benefit from cortisone injection if you have a work or sports-related injury.

Do Cortisone Injections Have Risks?

Cortisone injections have long been proven to be safe and effective when used in the right way. The treatment is well tolerated by many people, is delivered with minimal discomfort, and has a few side effects. However, having lots of injections in the same target area can damage the joint cartilage. Corticosteroids can make the soft tissue or skin at the injection site too thin. Limiting the number of cortisone injections to around three annually in any body area is recommended. You might boost your risk of infection or other severe complications if you exceed the limit. Normally, cortisone shots offer pain relief for around one to two months or longer.

Ultimately, if you consider getting cortisone injections, it is important to understand that cortisone offers a short-term solution. Based on your medical history, you should also talk with your doctor about whether cortisone is a beneficial treatment. Keep in mind that there are some reasons that you should not use cortisone, even if it offers pain relief. If such reasons apply to you, it is recommendable to limit your cortisone use or first exhaust other treatments before you consider cortisone.