# Cortisone injections for bursitis??



## stoked (Aug 6, 2004)

I am curious about pros and cons of cortisone injection to relieve bursitis pain. I have this pain on my left outer hip area(trochanteric) bursitis. I've been off the bike for over a month and doing stretching exercises along with Rx antiinflammatory medication and acupuncture. It has gotten better but not completely gone. I would like to find out from riders their experiences of cortisone injection which was offered to me as an option. Are there any other options?


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## BRC (Sep 20, 2007)

stoked said:


> I am curious about pros and cons of cortisone injection to relieve bursitis pain. I have this pain on my left outer hip area(trochanteric) bursitis. I've been off the bike for over a month and doing stretching exercises along with Rx antiinflammatory medication and acupuncture. It has gotten better but not completely gone. I would like to find out from riders their experiences of cortisone injection which was offered to me as an option. Are there any other options?



I had three cortisone injections in an elbow, because of severe pain..(Tennis Elbow) with each shot came comfort but its duration was less and less. The doctor would no longer administer it as he said it caused damages to the ends of the muscles or ligaments. I eventually opted for surgery which fixed the problem...Also had a shot in my right shoulder which lasted for almost six months without pain and swelling...Good luck


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## SuperSlow (Feb 11, 2005)

I have had 2 shots into my hip socket for tendon damage. They are like magic. There are 2 drawbacks, 1... yes cortisone eats good tissue along with the bad, and 2....... the needle they use is about the length of a pencil. Make sure that you have a good sports medicine doc who uses an xray to make sure the needle is in the right place before they give you the cortisone.


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## prschatt (Aug 19, 2007)

Corticosteroid injections directly into tendons and ligaments, is usually not done as it can cause weakening and slowed healing in these structures. Further side effects are calcification of the tendons/ligaments leading to decreased range of motion, tearing followed by surgical repair. A bursa (bursitis) is inflammation of a fluid-filled sac/pad that is usually is found beneath the moving tendons. Repeated injections into actual joints (hips, knees shoulders etc) can cause something called "steroid arthropathy", the joint feels good and is used or over used which degrades the cartilage causing further damage. Steroids in higher doses may also delay healing w/in joints and can cause degradation.


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## Mel Erickson (Feb 3, 2004)

All true, but like most things, if used in moderation and under the care of a well informed doctor and patient corticosteroid injections are safe and effective at relieving inflammation and pain.


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## BCJek (Apr 7, 2006)

Have you determined the cause of the bursitis? I had fairly severe trochanteric bursitis that refused to go away despite various and sundry [non-drug] treatments. In the end, I realized it was from the way I was sleeping, not my cycling. I was getting the bursitis from sleeping on my side on a really hard bed [futon], and when I got a softer mattress and started sleeping in a modified position, the symptoms disappeared and have never come back. I guess I might have still blamed the cycling, in that it is the reason why I'm thin enough that a hard bed can give me bursitis.

Worth a look. 

Good luck with it, either way.

Michael


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## stoked (Aug 6, 2004)

My bursitis is from a car accident. I got side swiped by an idiot driver and car contacted me on left hip and shoulder area. After 5 months of PT pain was minor and almost gone. The pain came back and it became worse over time. I had pain when I walked. I stpped riding altogether 2.5 months ago and went to doctor. It is better now but not %100 gone. I keep up with stretching and it helps. It drives me nuts not being able to ride. I rode 25 miles today and felt it slightly but I did my pre and post ride stretches and a good warm up. I guess I need to find out if this thing is chronic and needs surgical removal. Thanks for all the advice on cortisone. It does not sound like a good fix and it could do more damage.


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## boltzmann (Sep 26, 2005)

Worked for me.

I had pain and swelling in left knee all Spring. Several times tried rest followed by slowly increased distance of riding with easy spinning but the pain and swelling still came back. I also was doing stretching and strengthening exercises all the time. This took months of trying this several times.

Finally got a steroid shot and started the process over again. Was able to build back my base level and started doing intervals after 2 months. Everything feels fine.

But - I took 2 months to build back slowly.


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## Len J (Jan 28, 2004)

They work but...........

I have had severe bursitis in both shoulders. I've had several cortesone shots (over time) because of this. But here is the deal. Cortisone is an antiinflammitory....it reduces the inflammation in the bursea, allowing the cause of the inflammation to heal itself. In order for this to happen, you need to not stress the area after the shot for a period of time......even though it feels better immediatly.

Do that & it will work.

len


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## Ed Leahy (Aug 10, 2004)

*Have you tried ultrasound therapy?*

It worked for my elbow bursitis and is not invasive. Cortisone is usually effective but has a lot of drawbacks.


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## stoked (Aug 6, 2004)

Ed Leahy said:


> It worked for my elbow bursitis and is not invasive. Cortisone is usually effective but has a lot of drawbacks.


I had ultrasound along with electrode therapy for 5 months after my accident and it did seem to work. I was thinking of buying a compact ultrasound machine from ebay and doing it myself. Most PT Dr. office hours are M-F 9-5 and I don't have time from my new job to get it done.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

I'm currently suffering from a bout of "frozen shoulder," which has caused intermittent pain and lack of mobility in my left shoulder. After one month of PT, it wasn't getting any better, so I went see an orthopedist last week. He gave me a shot of cortisone in my shoulder, which has helped some but was not a cure-all. However, the doctor said the cortisone shot should help the PT in their treatment -- which has consisted of ultrasound, massages, stretching and electric shot treatments.


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## bikeboy389 (May 4, 2004)

I have bursitis on the bottom of both heels. Cortisone shots (and orthotics that keep my weight off the actual bursae) helped my right heel, but I just couldn't get the left one healed until I tried the ultrasound dealy. That fixed me right up. Without the orthotics I'd probably still be hosed, but with them, I'm good to go, even for long walks now.


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## stoked (Aug 6, 2004)

I ordered a 1MHz ultrasound machine from ebay and I am going to start using it once i get it. I did a 25 mile ride 5 days ago and my hip is hurting again slightly. After 2.5 months of no riding before that and stil did not recover. I got to get MRI done. this sucks.


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## bikeboy389 (May 4, 2004)

stoked said:


> I ordered a 1MHz ultrasound machine from ebay and I am going to start using it once i get it. I did a 25 mile ride 5 days ago and my hip is hurting again slightly. After 2.5 months of no riding before that and stil did not recover. I got to get MRI done. this sucks.


The ultrasound deal that I did was pretty substantial, and would not really correspond to a home ultrasound machine. It probably would work in some of the same principles, though.

What I did was called Extra Corporeal Shock Wave Therapy, and it was done at the doctor's office. A lot of insurance won't pay for it because it's pretty new in the US. Mine did, but they didn't pay anything like the kind of money my Doctor wanted. Luckily, he'd committed to taking whatever the ins. company was willing to pay and I didn't have to shell out on my own. In retrospect, since it put an end to three years of heel nightmares, I'd have paid a fair amount, but if I can have the problem fixed AND keep the money, I'm all over that.

Here's a link to a page that tell more about the treatment: ECSWT


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## ballmon (Mar 23, 2005)

Mel Erickson said:


> All true, but like most things, if used in moderation and under the care of a well informed doctor and patient corticosteroid injections are safe and effective at relieving inflammation and pain.


What he said. I've been getting what my bone doc calls "the full Monty"; a veratable cocktail of cortical steriods in the knee about twice a year. The pain is much reduced and I feel like a million bucks for about 45 days. I'm trying to stave off knee replacement for as long as I can, and this treatment seems to work really well.


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