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Shot for Your Health? March 27, 2000 (San Francisco) -- Probably. That's the beauty of cortisone: flash pain relief and a rapid decrease in inflammation. This powerful steroid, often given by injection, gets to work at the site of an injury by blocking the body's natural inflammatory response. Less inflammation means less pain. But before you rush to your doctor for a dose, be aware that cortisone is hardly the panacea for your sports-injury woes. It's more of a quick-and-dirty fix. Used alone, cortisone does nothing to repair an injury to muscles, joints, tendons, or ligaments. It simply smoothes over the symptoms, Band-Aid style. If you do get a cortisone shot, it should always be prescribed in tandem with a rehabilitation or strengthening program. If the cause of your problem is weakness or improper training, this kind of regimen is critical. Otherwise, you run the risk of hurting yourself again down the road (or court). And cortisone critics aren't so sure if suppressing the body's natural response to a trauma -- in this case, a knee injury -- is such a smart move. Cortisone junkies beware: Repeated injections into a joint can hamper the body's ability to repair the minor injuries to joints that occur in daily life. What's more, cortisone injections into or around major tendons can result in weakness and even rupture of the tendon. Cortisone is a potent medicine: In rare cases, it can bring on serious side effects, such as thinning of the skin, loss of skin color, and even infection. Scary possibilities aside, the bottom line is this: If you absolutely have to be back in action this weekend, a cortisone shot can most likely help you get there. But it's not a cure for the problem and shouldn't be your only line of defense. So tread lightly and concentrate on preventing another injury. James Garrick, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon and the founder and director of the Center for Sports Medicine in San Francisco, Calif. He also founded the sports medicine division at the University of Washington and is a founding and former board member of the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine. Garrick is a clinical professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, and serves on the editorial board of several journals. He is co-author of Sports Injuries: Diagnosis and Management and the upcoming Anybody's Sports Medicine Book, appearing in spring 2000. |