Hey, Doc, Should I Get A Cortisone Injection?
This is a question I get asked all the time at practice, and in today’s video, I’m going to talk to you about when is the right time to get a cortisone injection and when you should think twice.
Here’s the first thing to consider when thinking about a cortisone injection.
They can be fabulous at decreasing pain and increasing movement.
However, they don’t address the underlying cause of the problem.
You can think of it as a smoke detector.
If you call up the fire department and they rush over, and they come flying into your house, and all they do is turn off the smoke detector, but they don’t address the fire underneath it, I’d imagine you’d be a little bit cranky about that.
I see too many patients who are overly focused on a cortisone injection rather than addressing the underlying cause of the problem.
Let me be clear here.
I’m not saying to never use cortisone.
There’s certainly a time and a place for it.
Like for elderly patients, when there’s an extreme amount of arthritis or muscle damage, however, it should be used in conjunction or in combination with proper manual care to restore the shoulder to the best possible function.
In short, there’s a place for cortisone, but it should not be the first choice.
Now, sadly, I see way too many patients putting up with chronic shoulder pain for years before doing something about it.
If you’d like to do something about shoulder pain, then we would love to help.