Chigger wrote: ↑Sun Oct 21, 2018 4:25 pm
Long term cortisone shots according to my sports orthopedic Dr will cause bone deterioration and he won't do them.
That isn't true for occasional and limited use, and maybe for injections, period.
Occasional Cortisone Injections Unlikely to Have Negative Affect on Bones
June 4, 2010
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/disc ... -on-bones/
Dear Mayo Clinic:
What are the effects of cortisone injections on bones? Can their use lead to osteoporosis?
Answer:
Some steroid medications have been associated with osteoporosis in certain situations. The steroids found in a cortisone or similar injection, however, are unlikely to have an impact on bones because, after injection, the medication typically doesn't enter the bloodstream in significant amounts for any length of time.
Cortisone is a corticosteroid medication that is very effective at decreasing pain and inflammation in joints and other structures in the body. Corticosteroids are not the same as the anabolic steroids that are sometimes used to enhance athletic performance. Cortisone often is used to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, gout, tendinitis or bursitis. Cortisone has proven to be an effective therapy for these and other disorders that cause joint and back pain, often providing symptom relief for weeks or months after injection into the affected joint or area.
Research has shown that corticosteroid medications can cause bone loss and result in osteoporosis if taken orally or intravenously (IV) in high doses or for long periods. (For example, prednisone taken orally in doses of more than 10 mg per day for longer than three months). Corticosteroids affect the bones primarily by decreasing bone formation, but they may also increase the body's process of breaking down bone (bone resorption) when a person first begins to take the medication. Corticosteroids can also block the intestine's ability to absorb calcium while speeding up the loss of calcium through the urine, and both can have a negative effect on bone health.
These effects of corticosteroids occur when steroid medication circulates throughout the body in the bloodstream. In contrast, cortisone and similar shots are injected into a joint or into the spine, and the medication typically stays in the area where it is injected. That means little or no absorption of the corticosteroid into the bloodstream and, as a result, little or no effect on bones. It is possible that cortisone could leak slowly out of the injection area and enter the bloodstream in some patients, but this is relatively uncommon....
My own experience with oral corticosteroids, Prednisone, has been pretty miserable. My head swells up and I have trouble sleeping. Plus it caused steroid induced diabetes, which fortunately has faded away. Injections had no bad side effects, but series of them too close together quickly became ineffective. My wife and I both get a shoulder injection of cortisone for osteoarthritis every few months and that seems to work very well.