cortisone injection for shoulder

[daniel_2k8]

As some of you know due to my previous posts i have been getting problems with my shoulders now for three years, it all started with the right shoulder and this year the same pain is in the left. I have not trained for over a year and still am in pain all day.

When the shoulder is moved you can hear and feel it grinding and making really lound snapping noises, the pain that has been there for years is located at the front and snapping is coming from a sore point on the back. The grinding if felt mostly when i shoulder rotations in circle moations The pain feels like a really dull type of pain.

A MRI and a x-ray which i had the beginning of this year came back saying nothing is wrong. I am now going to a physio once a week which i trust as he works on Ross stone(welsh strongman) He said that i have tendon damage and there is a big lump of scar tissue on the tendon which he has been breaking down for the past 3 weeks. He said that the damage is causing flare ups of tendonitis. The tendon in the shoulder does feel alot flatter than before since he has been working on it.

I seen a orthopedic surgeon about 2 months ago and he wanted me to start back training and go back in 3 months which will be next month, physio also wants me to get back training. I can't train as the pain is to bad and it's even there when not training. Next month the surgeon wans to give me a cortisone injection which i don't think will work as iv'e tried many courses of NSAID with no sucess. Should i have this injection or not?

Sorry for the long post.

[Runningquick]

well... i usually stick to what the doc recommends when they are someone you trust, besides, other than the uncomfortably of the needle, i have always felt better after getting a cortisone shot. Are you getting regular ultra-sound therapy on your shoulder with the physical therapist? i have a separated shoulder, spurs(loss of cartilage cause bits of bone to grind in joint) and a dislocation... and thats just the left one... but the ultra sound helps, and you should be stretching it all day, the more you baby it the more the area will tighten up and not get better, when i swam in college i had to spend the first 1 getting ultra sound on my shoulders before and after practice before they would get fluid enough to do the butterfly with. PS my pop and grind all the way around too, try the stretching and the exercises they give you and stick to them, it will get better, if its too much to do standing, the exercises, try them laying down on the ground so you are supporting your whole arm for the first few times you work it out... Hope that helps, good luck with your shoulder

[daniel_2k8]

I can only afford to go the the physio once a week so when im there he does use ultrasound. What i still can't understand is why the MRI came back normal and im in all this pain. I have tried to do the exercises they give me on many different occasions but they are to painful although i have been old to keep doing them if they are painful but it just dosen't seem right.

[daniel_2k8]

Just got back from the physio and when i was there i told him that the snapping is coming from the back of the shoulder so he had a lookat it and said there is damage at the back aswell on the rotor cuff.

Should i do the exercises whilst the pain is there like the ortho and pysio said.

[daniel_2k8]

Bump.

[musclepeak88]

From what i have heard the coristone injection's can weaken the tendons if to many are used, don't know if it's true though.

I was going to have one a while back but just decided to take 2 week's off and iced the area 3 times a day and also used naproxen and painkillers for the 2 week's.

[Irish Iron]

I got a cortisone injection in my right knee once, and I really dont think it is worth it. My knee felt great for about a day, but all the pain was back within 2 days. Not to mention the injection hurts incredibly bad

[art_of_war]

As some of you know due to my previous posts i have been getting problems with my shoulders now for three years, it all started with the right shoulder and this year the same pain is in the left. I have not trained for over a year and still am in pain all day.

When the shoulder is moved you can hear and feel it grinding and making really lound snapping noises, the pain that has been there for years is located at the front and snapping is coming from a sore point on the back. The grinding if felt mostly when i shoulder rotations in circle moations The pain feels like a really dull type of pain.

A MRI and a x-ray which i had the beginning of this year came back saying nothing is wrong. I am now going to a physio once a week which i trust as he works on Ross stone(welsh strongman) He said that i have tendon damage and there is a big lump of scar tissue on the tendon which he has been breaking down for the past 3 weeks. He said that the damage is causing flare ups of tendonitis. The tendon in the shoulder does feel alot flatter than before since he has been working on it.

I seen a orthopedic surgeon about 2 months ago and he wanted me to start back training and go back in 3 months which will be next month, physio also wants me to get back training. I can't train as the pain is to bad and it's even there when not training. Next month the surgeon wans to give me a cortisone injection which i don't think will work as iv'e tried many courses of NSAID with no sucess. Should i have this injection or not?

Sorry for the long post.

Well I'm not a doctor, so that's why I see a qualified one whenever I feel there is something that home remedies won't cure. You said you've tried many NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory)course, so maybe your doctor feels the cortisone (steroidal anti-inflammatory) is the safest, least invasive, logical next step.

Do they work, yes and no, I guess it depends on the ailment. I've had two on my knee 6 months apart from each other, never really noticed any benefit. But I did have one in my shoulder which bothered me for years, that one was over a year ago,and I haven't had any pain since.

Safety, well I guess anything in excess is bad, but doctors follow a certain protocol, and unless he got his degree from a box of cereal, I think most doctors use good judgement. I've heard different things like no more than twice a year, to no more than 5 times in a lifetime. But I do know one thing, a lot of the old NFL players from the 60's and 70's who have bad knees and joints, were shot in heavier than normal doses on a weekly bases (and during half-time intermissions). Often times just by the "trainer" or assistant and not by a licensed doctor.

[jsfmt99]

As some of you know due to my previous posts i have been getting problems with my shoulders now for three years, it all started with the right shoulder and this year the same pain is in the left. I have not trained for over a year and still am in pain all day.

When the shoulder is moved you can hear and feel it grinding and making really lound snapping noises, the pain that has been there for years is located at the front and snapping is coming from a sore point on the back. The grinding if felt mostly when i shoulder rotations in circle moations The pain feels like a really dull type of pain.

A MRI and a x-ray which i had the beginning of this year came back saying nothing is wrong. I am now going to a physio once a week which i trust as he works on Ross stone(welsh strongman) He said that i have tendon damage and there is a big lump of scar tissue on the tendon which he has been breaking down for the past 3 weeks. He said that the damage is causing flare ups of tendonitis. The tendon in the shoulder does feel alot flatter than before since he has been working on it.

I seen a orthopedic surgeon about 2 months ago and he wanted me to start back training and go back in 3 months which will be next month, physio also wants me to get back training. I can't train as the pain is to bad and it's even there when not training. Next month the surgeon wans to give me a cortisone injection which i don't think will work as iv'e tried many courses of NSAID with no sucess. Should i have this injection or not?

Sorry for the long post.

Hydrocortisone is a fast acting steroid used to reduce inflammation. Since the shoulder is an encapsulated joint, the effectiveness of it depends on the skill of the doctor to get it past the bursa (the tissue that encapsulates the shoulder) and inject it accurately into the affected area. The reason why the injection hurts so much is because they move the needle around as the steroid is being injected.
They wanted to inject my back with it and I refused. I did a lot of background research about cortisone and it is essentially a 50% hit or miss. I also asked around and more people I spoke to told me that it did not work for them. I heard more failure stories than success stories about cortisone and everyone i spoke to about it all mentioned the pain of the injection. Even if it works the effect is only temporary. Long term use of it is bad on the bones and I was better off doing Physical therapy. Hope this helps.

[daniel_2k8]

Thanks for the replies, sounds like i shouldn't have it done. I guess the ortho just want's me to have it done to get rid of me as it's on the N.H.S. I have tried therapy 3 times but will give it another go.