Corticosteroid Injections for Chronic Orthopaedic Pain in Canada

Corticosteroids (e.g., cortisone, depomedrol, etc) are strong anti-inflammatory medicines used to treat a variety of musculoskeletal conditions. Corticosteroids are most commonly injected into soft tissues or directly into a joint to help relieve pain resulting from inflammation.
 

As many chronic orthopaedic conditions cause pain because of local tissue inflammation, steroid injections can be extremely effective in reducing pain to a tolerable level for these types of conditions.

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While corticosteroid injections may often provide only temporary pain relief (usually 2-3 months), sometimes an injection can help settle down more acute pain flares and help symptoms return to a more tolerable baseline level.

 

How often corticosteroid injections can be repeated depends on the conditions being treated, as well as the patient’s response to treatment. If corticosteroid injection is only required periodically for symptom flares (e.g., 1-2x/year), it may be reasonable and safe to repeat these indefinitely with appropriate supervision from your Ortho South surgeon.

If injections are providing only short-term relief (e.g., 1-2 weeks), and/or are required more than 3x/year, it is usually recommended to discontinue these and consider other treatment options, as the risks of repeat injections in short succession will likely far outweigh any possible benefits in most cases.

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Compared to other types of injection therapies such as Hyaluronic Acid (HA)/Visco-Supplement or Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP), a corticosteroid injection is a relatively cheap and effective pain relieving treatment option for many chronic orthopaedic conditions, such as osteoarthritis. A large number of scientific studies support the use of corticosteroid injections, especially for mild to moderate arthritis.

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Our Ortho South surgeons are happy to discuss with you during your consultation if corticosteroid injections might be an appropriate treatment option for your orthopaedic condition.

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