I have been in 8 weeks of PT for a mysterious and troublesome shoulder injury, as yet undiagnosed, making progress that amounts to 2 steps forward one step back, and the therapist is talking about referring me for a cortisone injection. I have had 2 cortisone injections in my spine and they did nothing for me. I am not excited and am quite dubious about the prospect of getting one in my shoulder. I have unstable joints in general and this shoulder is particularly unstable. I have read that cortisone can weaken tendons and ligaments and that seems like the last thing I need.
Can anyone share their experience with cortisone injections for shoulder problems? I am feeling very frustrated but am getting to the point where I might try this. I cannot do freestyle at all and my daily life such as personal care and home maintenance is greatly challenged by this darn shoulder. Plus my border collie is depressed because I cannot throw his frisbee. Things are getting desperate!
I had a cortisone shot in my right shoulder in mid November in a final attempt to calm down some severe rotator cuff tendonitis caused by overdoing it in the weight room. I had signed up for Long Beach but my training was totally compromised by the pain and I was considering blowing it off. Of course, I had been doing P-T, ice, stretching, ART, etc. prior and was barely swimming in practice.
I have to say that the treatment proved very effective. I wasn't 100% better and it didn't really help my other chronic right shoulder problem of pain caused by a lack of cartilege on the head of my humerus, but it provided very noticable relief by the third day after the shot and enabled me to put much more torque on the joint.
Post Long Beach I stiff feel the beneficial effects and have been able to resume pull-ups (although without the 50 lbs. strapped to my waist) and several other upper body exercises in dry land training.
My doc did say that these shots are not any type of long term cure and can be harmful if overdone, which he defined as more than once a year.
Obviously, this is anectdotal evidence and I'm not claiming any scientific basis for my experience. However, for me it was very helpful.
Rich
I had a cortisone shot in my right shoulder in mid November in a final attempt to calm down some severe rotator cuff tendonitis caused by overdoing it in the weight room. I had signed up for Long Beach but my training was totally compromised by the pain and I was considering blowing it off. Of course, I had been doing P-T, ice, stretching, ART, etc. prior and was barely swimming in practice.
I have to say that the treatment proved very effective. I wasn't 100% better and it didn't really help my other chronic right shoulder problem of pain caused by a lack of cartilege on the head of my humerus, but it provided very noticable relief by the third day after the shot and enabled me to put much more torque on the joint.
Post Long Beach I stiff feel the beneficial effects and have been able to resume pull-ups (although without the 50 lbs. strapped to my waist) and several other upper body exercises in dry land training.
My doc did say that these shots are not any type of long term cure and can be harmful if overdone, which he defined as more than once a year.
Obviously, this is anectdotal evidence and I'm not claiming any scientific basis for my experience. However, for me it was very helpful.
Rich
