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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
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Sports Medicine |
Cortisone injection - pain01/15/2008 |
I had a cortisone injection in my knee (inside, ACL) the injection originally made my knee numb. Two hours later the pain progressively returned and was worse than the original pain from the injury (skiing, my skis stayed attached and both knees popped outword). After an MRI and xrays they determined I had sprained my knees. My left knee hurt worse and they injected cortisone. I have what feels like a "full", tight and unmoveable knee when I straighten it it is very painful. I can`t walk without pain. The whole purpose was to help with the pain to improve the healing process. This pain is worse than the injury produced. Please advise. I did call the Physicians Clinic and talk to an on-call doctor. But no real answers were given. Thank you.
When a cortisone (steroid) injection is given into the knee, it is usually combined with an anesthetic (numbing medicine), resulting in temporary pain reduction and numbness - for 1-2 hours if a short-acting anesthetic is used, and up to several hours if a longer acting anesthetic is used. Once the anesthetic has worn off, pain typically returns until the steroid begins to take effect, the maximum benefit from which may not occur until up to several days after the injection. In situations where inflammation is not the only cause of pain (such as after injuring the ACL and/or another knee structure), a steroid injection may not help as much as was hoped.
You mentioned "ACL" - which stands for "anterior cruciate ligament". A steroid injection is not typically part of the treatment for an ACL injury: it would not repair or "heal" the injured ligament. A steroid injection can actually interfere with healing following an acute injury. A "knee sprain" is a nonspecific term, referring to injury to one or more knee ligaments.
The full, tight feeling in your knee, pain with straightening your knee and with weight-bearing could occur if there's fluid causing pressure from within your knee joint, but there could certainly be other or additional reasons for these symptoms, best sorted out by the findings on physical exam of your knee as well as your knee MRI scan results.
Since it's painful to walk, the cause for this needs to be determined. If your injury occurred recently, you could benefit from "weight-bearing as tolerated," which means if it's too painful to bear full weight, partially off-loading the painful side with a cane or crutch for a short period of time may be helpful. Additional interventions to discuss with your physician include applying ice to your knee, taking an oral anti-inflammatory medication, trying on a knee sleeve or brace to wear for now if helpful, and cross-training to maintain conditioning via an activity which doesn't aggravate your knee symptoms.
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Brian L Bowyer, MD Associate Professor of Clinical PM&R The OSU Sports Medicine Center Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation College of Medicine The Ohio State University |
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