Private Steroid Injection Therapy
You might also have a local anaesthetic by spray or injection to numb the skin before the hydrocortisone injection. Hydrocortisone injections are used to treat swollen or painful joints, such as after an injury or if you have arthritis. Steroid injections, are anti-inflammatory medicines used to treat a range of conditions. If a woman needs to take steroid tablets whilst she is breastfeeding, prednisolone is usually recommended.
- Very rarely, you may get an infection in the joint at the time of injection.
- If you are currently breastfeeding , please discuss with your therapist – a leaflet produced by Breast Feeding Network in 2014, has been produced to give you guidance in this area.
- The joints most often injected are the shoulder, elbow, knee, hand, wrist or hip.
- This might be recommended for injections in areas such as hip joints, neck or lower back.
- You may be able to have a hydrocortisone injection into the same joint up to 4 times in a year.
If you need to take medication for diabetes with corticosteroids, your blood glucose levels will usually need to be checked more regularly. Your dose of diabetes medication may then need to be adjusted. Anticoagulant medicines are medications that make the blood less sticky.
Steroid Injections – Patient Information
Hydrocortisone is a type of medicine known as a steroid (or corticosteroid). They can be used to treat problems such as joint pain, arthritis and sciatica. Corticosteroids can weaken your immune system and make you more vulnerable to infection.
- The cortisone which will reduce inflammation in the joint, and anaesthetic which will provide immediate pain relief.
- Your doctor or other healthcare professional might call these short-acting soluble steroids.
- Steroid treatment for arthritis and related conditions can be taken as tablets or given as injections into the affected area.
- If you need a follow-up injection, the amount of hydrocortisone could go up or down.
It is important you monitor your blood sugar levels after a steroid injection. Side effects of injections given into the blood tend to be similar to side effects of steroid tablets, such as increased appetite, mood changes and difficulty sleeping. In most cases, a single steroid injection is sufficient but in other cases you may need another injection.
Do steroid injections make you put on weight?
Therefore we recommend that patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes should always discuss with their GP before booking for a steroid injection. If it is agreed by your GP that you can proceed with the steroid injection, it is important that you are extra vigilant of your blood sugars for around two weeks after the injection. If you feel unwell or are worried after the injection, you should speak to your doctor.
Accessing medicines self-help guide
A corticosteroid injection is a powerful anti – inflammatory and
can be very effective in giving pain relief when soft tissue or
joints are inflamed. The skin around the injection site will be cleaned legal steroids uk sale with antiseptic and an anaesthetic spray or cream may be applied to numb the area. A needle is gently inserted into the affected area and the steroid medicine is then injected through the needle.
Steroid injections can also be called corticosteroid, cortisone, or hydrocortisone injections, or may be referred to as injection therapy. Spinal steroid injections are also known as Epidural Steroid Injections. See the Spinal Injections page for further information on all spinal injections. A steroid injection is given to help reduce inflammation and pain either in a joint or soft tissue.
If the joint becomes more painful and hot, you should seek medical attention immediately, especially if you are also feeling generally unwell. The injection releases the hydrocortisone slowly into the part of your body that is painful or swollen. Like other steroids, it works by calming down your immune system. This reduces inflammation and helps to relieve the pain and swelling.
CAN I TAKE OTHER MEDICATIONS ALONG WITH THE STEROID INJECTION ?
If you’re having an injection to relieve pain, it may also contain local anaesthetic. Depending on the cause of your pain, you may be asked to rest the area for a short period after the injection. This does not usually mean total rest, but
refraining from activities that make your pain worse, after which you should try to gradually return to full function.
You may also be shown some exercises to do whilst you are in the clinic, or referred for physiotherapy treatment. If you are having other
medical treatment within six weeks, you should tell the treating clinician that you have received a corticosteroid injection. Steroid injections use a medicine called corticosteroid which reduces inflammation in your joint to relieve pain and allow you to move your joint to more easily. There are two kinds of steroid injections used in spinal degenerative (wear and tear) problems.
You may be asked to wait at the practice or clinic for a short time, to make sure you feel OK. It’s usually best if a friend or family member can drive you home. So it can be a good idea to arrange for friends or family to drive you home.