Anyone ever get a cortisone shot?

[Speedballer347]

Did it work?
Old wrist injury is starting to act up
TIA

[TommyG]

Yes I have. Yes it worked. I have had them for carpal tunnel and arthritis in both wrists.  They say you can only have a limited amount of them before they stop working.  Lets just say you will know when mine stop working because I won't be racing anymore.   

[Speedballer347]

Do you think it will last the whole summer, before the pain comes back??? 
Its an old arhtritic injury too.  Unfortunatley riding brings it out.  My wrist was fine before I started street riding this year, about a week ago.  Started hurting the morning after my first ride...4 rides later it is so bad I can hardly turn a door knob :-(  Cant imaging squeezing a brake/throttle on a track.
I am sorry about your chronic wrists too :-(

[Gary#40]

Depends, i've had some work and some not.

[zeroice]

I had 2 experiences w cortisone shots, 1 good, 1 bad, most likely not related to your problem but thought I'd mention it anyways:

1. knee injury related: 2 wks before Bikeweek daytona 2008, I ran the mercedes birmingham marathon. My knee busted (IT-band injury) at about mile 14. I limped the remaining 12miles to the finish since I felt committed and wouldn't take no for an answer (plus I was still under the 8 hour cut off time. Well, after the race I felt like hell. I then got a cortisone shot a week before Daytona and felt good as new, at least for that weekend. Then it hurted again. slightly. Eventually I recovered. I guess, in all honesty, the cortisone shot DID help in the short run (by reducing inflammation). But the full recovery was really a matter good nutrition, proper mileage increase, and stretching.


2. sinus infection related: last summer/fall I was training for an ultra 100 mile trail run (www.pinhoti100) that took place on Nov 11.
Short story version: trained like hell in the alabama late summer heat. Got a sinus infection that never went away. on-and-off-and-on-and-off antibiotics. Got a cortisone shot 5 days before the race - then felt awesome. During the race, I felt like hell only after 10 miles in the race and ended up w a DNF at mile 42. Despite the awesome training. Talked to another doctor about the cortisone shot and she said that it suppresed my immune system, which makes you feel better. And also allows the antibiotics to work. But the cortisone only had a 2-3day effect. After that, the immune system starts to crank back up. Which is why I felt like hell in the race.

Long story version:
I was running 30 mile and 15 mile training runs, staggard every weekend for 3 months straight (plus weekday recovery runs, speed training, tempo, etc). I got a sinus infection late september. I got on antibiotics, and the infection sort of went away but never really. I still had some mucous every morning (I know - gross). Early November the mucus (just some head stuffyness) got worse, so I saw a doctor again on Nov 7th and got antibiotics again...  I told the doctor what I was doing and that I had to run a 100 mile race under a 30 hour period in 5 days from now. He suggested a cortisone shot with the antibiotics to "help" my recovery. I talked to several other athlete friends (before I saw the doctor about antibiotics, and not cortisone shots) and they said it was ok to take antibiotics but cut them off 2 days before the race then resume antibiotics afterwards. Well, since the doctor prompted me with the cortisone shot, and he said it would make me recover faster, I took it. Well, I did feel better quickly. come race day I felt great. I was confident I would finish the race at a 24 hour pace. The cut-off was 30 hours to make it the whole 100 miles. I trained well, capping off my training runs with a 42mile run 4weeks before the race and a 17 mile run 2 weeks before the race (all under a 12 minute pace). Well, here's the bad news: 7 miles into the run, my ankles started hurting. 10 miles into it, my knees and ankles were hurting. by mile 15, I was down to a 15 minute pace everything hurt and my energy was just bogging. I kept on pushing despite the pain and lack of energy. I was wondering if it was the cortisone or the antibiotics.... Well between mile 41 and 44, it took almost 2 hours. At that point, I could have gone a bit more but the cut-off time would have caught up with me. So I DNF-ed. Later after the race I talked to another doctor that was more familiar with athletes on meds (the doctor is a marathon runner) as opposed to "sedentary" people on meds and she said the cortisone shot was a big mistake. If I had it 1 or 2 days before the race or 10 days before the race, that would have been ok. But not 5 or 7 days before the race. Thats just when the imune system is cranking up, which is why my energy was low. She also said that cortisone does effect the levels of prostaglandins, which has something to do with pain transmission like endorphenes. I didn't fully read about this stuff but I assume that is why I was in so much pain.

moral of my story:
cortisone shots reduce injury inflammation if administered locally (it does NOT stimulate cell growth like anabolic steroids... cortisone = catabolic steroid = suppress/tearing down) and cortisone shots also suppress the immune system and make you feel better. (remember, most of the time when we feel bad when we're sick, is because of our immune system making it so). However, if the immune system is suppressed, it also takes time to crank back up, and this requires energy. So take caution when taking a cortisone shot. Make sure you consider the timing relative to your activity and also they type of activity.

As it relates to your story:
After the cortisone shots stop working (which it will), the next steps are either:
A. improved nutrition and rehabilitation (naturopathic way) or
B. surgery and rehabilitation. They can either clean up the nerves passages and/or give you a new joint.

Best of luck!

[R1Racer99]

I got one for inflammation in my elbow. It had been very painful for over a year at that point and a few hours after the shot, I had zero pain. It was awesome. It lasted for a couple months but eventually the pain came back. According to my doctor, they're great for pain relief but can be bad because you think since it feels fine that it is, but really the problem is still there and can be made worse without you feeling it.

[skiandclimb]

If you got Jojo Bits to stop biting your wrist, you wouldn't have any pain, Eric!

P.S.  The ribs were awesome! You were missed!

[tzracer]

Had tendonitis in an elbow.

Tried cortisone, 2 shots max as per the doctor. Long term use is not good.

Shots worked for a while, pain came back. the final cure was surgery.

[tstruyk]

got one in my knee after I snagged it on the ground T4 at MAM... worked for a year or 2, just got another one 3-4 months ago and it seems to have helped. BOTH times though I stayed active and built strength around the knee.  The injury is an irregularity of my meniscus so it makes sense why the shot works... it seems the more I stay active, the longer it lasts.  Or I should say the longer the swelling stays away

 

[Speedballer347]

Thanks everyone.  I stopped riding my streetbike and it feels better today.  I'll see waht happens at Cycle Ops in Putnam, if it flares back up I'll get the shot.
Thanks again.
Ski...LOL

[tug296]

Broke Clavicle, got it plated, bad pain, got cortisone shot with a 5 inch soft needle, so it could maneuver around and get to a deep spot.
Never again, the needle was hideous pain and no relief to my shoulder at all.
It has worked on my knee though.