Everyone has heard of a corticosteroid, or cortisone injection. They’re so often recommended as a first line of treatment for shoulder and hip bursitis, tennis elbow, heel (plantar fascia) pain, and much more. It acts as a pain reliever for tendon problems, so people are heading to their GPs asking for more shots! The problem is, there is very strong evidence that:
- The pain relief only works in the short-term (4-8 weeks).
- Cortisone shots work on reducing inflammation, so using them for overuse disorders like tennis elbow and rotator cuff pain or tears shows inconsistent effects, and may indeed cause more pain.
- Cortisone injections delay recovery and there is a higher probability of recurrence of the injury within 1 year compared to “wait and see”. In other words, long-term outcomes at a 1-year follow up after a shot are WORSE than if you did absolutely nothing.
- Cortisone injections don’t heal the tendon pain or injury. They don’t make the tendon stronger.
- There is no added benefit with multiple injections. Treatment by multiple cortisone injections is not recommended.
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Everyone agrees that exercise or physiotherapy is the gold standard treatment for chronic tendon injury, and should be the first line of attack. This applies whether you have a cortisone injection or not.
Chronic tendon injuries are not easy to treat. Each injury is unique, even within the same tendon, and practitioners have to address the pain and the disruption at a cellular level. But a good clinician, like our team of Physio Inq Physiotherapist, will be able to give you the exercises and education to improve. Please get in touch.
To find out more information about our Physiotherapist services in Australia, please contact us on 1300 731 733 or find your local Physio Inq Clinic OR Mobile Service
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Date Published: Friday, November 23, 2018
About The Author
Hi! I'm Tom Hol
Tom brings a fresh approach to business ownership, focusing on keeping his staff happy. He does this partly because he knows it keeps his clients happy, and partly because he gets real pleasure out of making sure his team are stimulated and progressing in whatever area of the business interests them. Tom has always put his whole self into what he is passionate about, and is one of those fortunate people whose passion, and work, are one and the same. An almost 10-year career as a chef saw him running a well-known hatted restaurant in Potts Point, appearing on the TV show, Iron Chef, and working with some of Sydney’s most respected and innovative Executive Chefs. However, when his passion for human movement and mobility took over, Tom orchestrated a career change and retrained as a physiotherapist. Graduating from Australian Catholic University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy, Tom sought out the game-changers in the physiotherapy field and found an instant fit with Physio Inq. Tom started work at the Engadine clinic in January 2017 and within a short period of time, was managing the clinic, and enjoying his new profession. Tom, with his wife and business partner, Laura, purchased the Physio Inq Engadine clinic in 2018. Under their guidance, the clinic grew, and in 2022 it was relocated across Station Street, to a commercial property three times the original clinic's size. In 2019 Tom and Laura opened their second clinic, Physio Inq Sutherland: a huge undertaking, but nothing too daunting for the Hols. Tom leads by example and encourages people to maximise their achievements. He is always thinking about getting the best results out of the efforts that are put in.
