by Clancelt on Tue May 18, 2010 10:42 am
After going through a inflamed joint (knee) and a destroyed joint (foot) here is what I have learned about those shots, and from the advice of a very good sports doctor. The cort shot works by killing off your autoimmune response, thus the swelling goes down. This allows the joint to heal only if the problem is it can't heal because the inflammation is aggravating it. My knee for instance had an inflamed chunk of muscle/connective tissue that was getting pinched in the knee cap so it wasn't healing. The swelling would go down a little, I would walk and aggravate it, then it would swell back up. Endless cycle and it could eventually mess it up for good. A shot brought the swelling down, and then it healed fine on it's own. My foot on the other hand, the joint was already gone and the doc said the shots would help prolong the time I could walk on it without surgery. They would however break down the joint, or more precisely I would continue to use a damaged joint until it fell apart. He said had the joint not been in such bad shape to begin with, he would of never used so much cortisone.
So long story short, it seems to be ok if the problem is swelling won't let it heal. If you get the shot and then don't take it easy on the joint because it feels great, and it will. Well, you just be doing more damage and sooner or later you'll really mess it up. I would stick with therapy if it seems to help and take it easy. Use the shot if you think reducing the swelling would help you heal faster.
I'll spank you smartly with my spank ray.