If you had cortisone injections, how much time it took to feel better?

August 5, 2019 10:53 AM

My doctor told me it could take a couple of weeks to feel the effects, and the doctor who gave me the injection told me 3 to 5 days. It took me a week to get better and I was still a little sore. My doctor told me that it works very differently from person to person, and that sometimes only one injection heals, whereas sometimes it is every year, sometimes every three months. The nurse told me that it usually took three injections before healing completely. I am very lost in all the information that was sent to me. What is your experience with this treatment?

I had an injection of cortisone after I was diagnosed with a large herniated disc and a lot of swelling between my L5 and S1 vertebrae, I started to feel the effects one week after the injections, and I I felt better about two weeks, always having a little pain, but the pain is getting more and more intense, it seems to me that I would need another dose after only three weeks. Is it normal?

posted by NathalieBou to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

I have had herniated discs in the same and close by vertebrae. I have had this on two separate instances of herniated discs, the first time it worked after about a week. The second time I didn’t feel any relief 10 days later and went for a second one which did help.

Both times I felt it was more of a short term fix, and I think this is backed up by studies. I had many months of physio which were the real help. I also had acupuncture which may be more of a placebo but it did help me.
posted by ellieBOA at 12:02 PM on August 5, 2019

Asking about the healing of herniated discs is different from just asking about how doctors tend to build a plan for cortisone injections. In the context of other muscle injuries or tendon problems (for example my torn rotator cuff) a cortisone shot reduces the inflammation for a week or two. A torn muscle holds itself back from healing, as the inflamed tissue can't behave normally to sit in a normal position to heal, and the tender tissue can't be exercised to build up strength against future re-injury. I got a cortisone shot, was told it would feel better in a day or so (it did!) but to stay inactive and baby it for a few days until the healing began, then given a list of daily exercises for the next month and a re-visit after that month to see how things were. At that point it had not hurt me since the shot, and I kept doing the exercises intermittently, but everything was basically fine. I'm not sure to what extent this could be extrapolated to a herniated disc. I suspect some of it is relevant, other parts maybe less so.
posted by aimedwander at 12:08 PM on August 5, 2019

Data point: A friend with chronic back issues (and two prior back surgeries to repair discs) tried cortisone shots for shooting pains down the back of one leg. The first shot did not help, and the second try a few weeks later did not help either. So, he has given up on this course of treatment - though I think he should try again because the only thing he has that helps at all is a TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) machine, and sometimes that is not enough. I hope you have better luck than he did.

He did get also get some benefits from physical therapy, but stopped going when insurance stopped paying, and they told him he could do most of the exercises at home - though I don't think he does them consistently.
posted by Glinn at 12:14 PM on August 5, 2019

Mr. DrGail has had cortisone shots in his knees (one shot per knee, so far) and reports his knee felt noticeably better after a day.
posted by DrGail at 12:38 PM on August 5, 2019

I have had many shots in many places for many terrible pains and my experiences varied with each location. The sole shot I had in my hip (labral tear/labral erosion) like 7 years ago did something mysterious to keep that pain at bay for almost 4 years, and even now it's not as bad as it was before the shot. The results were very quick, in under a week.

I have had 2, maybe 3? in the same area of the back as yours, for herniated discs, and the first one worked better than the most recent one, but my activity and fitness and overall health level was much better during the first one. The results were again very quick, in about 3-4 days.

I've had innumerable ones for my neck (3 herniated discs, 2 ruptured ones, stenosis, nerve entrapment, general hell) and none of them had what I would now consider acceptable results, but at the time it was better than nothing.

I had one shot in my left elbow for forearm tendonitis and the relief was instant, like the pain was gone the next day, but it's come back a bit over the years.

I think the real reason I had such lasting results with the hip and the first lumbar shot is, as mentioned by another commenter above, because I had extensive PT and strength training immediately afterwards, which I was not physically capable of doing for any of the other times. I further think that the reason the other areas had such poor results is because the problems it was meant to correct could only be corrected by surgery. My neck no longer has those issues post-surgery, and my forearm will continue to have the issues as long as I continue to refuse to have the joint fixed.
posted by poffin boffin at 12:46 PM on August 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I had two for herniations l3-l5. I also was doing PT at the time. Neither shot worked. And I had gone as far as I could with PT. I ended up having a laminectomy which gave me permanent relief.
posted by kathrynm at 8:58 PM on August 5, 2019