Are Cortisone Injections For Shoulder or Hip Injuries Making Your Problem Worse?

This may be regarded as a controversial video to many who see cortisone injections for pain relief as essential and the gold standard of treatment for common hip and shoulder injuries. However, if you spend the time to watch this video you will find that you may be causing more problems than you solve by using this type of treatment. Make sure you read the detailed article about this topic below that includes the references to studies mentioned in the video along with better explanations of exercises I prefer to use.
noregretspt.com.au/index.php/...
Cortisone is a potent anti-inflammatory medication. It was only discovered as recently as 1950 (earning a Nobel Prize for medicine for Hench and his co-workers), and has been available in an injectable form since 1951. It acts on both acute and chronic phases of inflammation to reduce both tissue swelling and subsequent scar formation.
Cortisone injections are often used to treat inflammatory arthritis conditions like Rheumatoid arthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis and the purpose of this is not just to relieve the person of pain but to prevent bone damage and permanent disfigurement. While these injections may be very helpful in treating auto-immune diseases and preventing further destruction of bone, they are not a good solution for treating osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal type injuries that they are also commonly used for.
Cortisone is a type of steroid and while it helps to reduce pain in the affected joint by decreasing the inflammation it also has some negative side effects. They inhibit the cells that can help repair damaged tissue and therefore may weaken tendons. Cortisone has been shown, in many studies, to accelerate degenerative osteoarthritis through cartilage breakdown.
The fact that cortisone is a poor solution is not something that I just made up or based solely on my opinion. This information has been around for some time and many health organizations are very aware of this problem, which is even more baffling for me as I see people every week given this type of treatment for a shoulder or hip problem that is caused by the way they move.
Joint instability comes from ligaments that become weak and overstretched that forces the body to react by sending fluid into the joint in an attempt to correctly stabilize it from further damage. The weakness is the end result of poor movement strategies and destructive forces creating the instability resulting in extra fluid being pushed through small cracks in the articular cartilage. If the instability is left unchecked it eventually causes the knee cartilage and meniscal cells to drown to death. This is the beginning of osteoarthritis.
Many people believe it is the osteoarthritis causing the pain and inflammation and that this is the end result of getting old. Both of these assumptions are false. Inactivity and poor movement causes the inflammation, not old age. The osteoarthritis is the end result of the pain, not the reason for it.
Using exercises to improve your movement strategy, range of motion and stability of the joints are the best solution to chronic injuries like hip and shoulder bursitis. NOT cortisone injections.
Additional articles to check out about this are below
Joint inflammation & what to focus on instead of pain relief
www.noregretspt.com.au/index....
Isometric and eccentric strength training
www.noregretspt.com.au/index....
How to assess and improve functional movement patterns
www.noregretspt.com.au/index....
Shoulder stability Exercises
www.noregretspt.com.au/index....
Hip Stability Exercises
www.noregretspt.com.au/index....
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[@Noregretspt]

As I mention a few times in the video if the injection is used in combination with corrective and rehabilitation exercises that seek to improve joint stability, ROM and functional strength then an injection may be useful. My beef is when this is used as they only form of treatment and the person rests the injured limb and does nothing to improve stability and strength and in my experience dealing with hundreds of cases over the last 10 years this is all too common.

[@kathleenparrish7173]

I was kept on Prednisolone for 13 years after a fall on a bus. Although now off Prednisolone I can barely walk due to arthritis in turn a health risk for hip replacement. The rest of my joints are also in a bad state and neither did I want to go on prednisolone. My answer is to refuse steroids.

[@Noregretspt]

That is terrible news. I was told to go on Prednisolone 2 years ago but I knew about the terrible side effects so I refused and found another way to get on top of the pain. While I am not perfect and still suffer to some extent I am glad I did not go down that road. I hope you find some relief and are able to restore some stability and strength to your joints again

[@ildikopeter7850]

I'd be really interested to know your opinion on collagen injections (into the painful/injured joint, as part of the rehab, once the pain inflammation are reduced). Would you recommend it? Or oral collagen (as form of tablets or joint drinks)? Also, what is the way to have a personal (video) consultation/assessment with you? I am also looking into buying your healthy knee program.

[@Noregretspt]

I am not really a fan of injecting anything into the injured area. I know they do this all the time and some people believe it helps, I have just seen this type of thing done before and it only served to create more problems and more weakness ongoing. Again it never really addresses the reason of the injury in the first place which seems pointless to me. I do some online calls via Zoom. Send me an email to [e-mail] and we can discuss how to organize this.

[@ildikopeter7850]

@@Noregretspt thank you so much for your reply and I will be contacting you via email shortly!