Been having Physio on both shoulders for the last 6 months with limited results. Next step is Steroid Injections into both shoulders. Has anyone any experience of this ? Are there any down sides/side effects or should I just MTFU and get on with it ?

Cheers

Cortisone injections? I’ve had 4 in my foot and the last one was done under x-ray in day surgery to get between the joints of the foot, I was surprised by how much a hypodermic needle can bend, also one in the shoulder. Out of all of them only one of them actually hurt afterwards.

BTW they don’t always work they didn’t for me 🙁

They hurt, a lot! I had one into the joint space of my big toe and they’re not pleasent!

There is a local anaesthetic in the injection to numb some of the pain, but basically you’re getting fluid pumped into a cavity so it’s going to be uncomfortable.

What’s up with your shoulders? Have you had x-rays done on them? if its joint damage. Or MRI if its sorft tissue?

The steroid ‘should’ tighten things up if joint lacksity is your problem.

Get them done together if you can, or you’ll be put off getting the second one!

Very safe and minimal risks if not done repeatedly. Shouldn’t be that sore in a shoulder as long as the person who is doing it knows what they are about. Smaller joints and feet in particular (eg plantar fasciitis) are much more painful. NB – steroids won’t tighten up lax ligaments.

X-ray was clear, have been to GP today for a referral for an MRI scan to see if its just swelling or something else that didn’t show on the x-rays as I dont think I want the injections unless I have to, although the other sujestion of 4 weeks off the bike was even less appealing!!

Why has the physio been having limited results? Is it because you’ve not been doing the exercises as prescribed per chance?

Change your physio! 6 months should have had good results maybe try osteopath or chiropractor for a 2nd opinion

Doing stretches religiously, last few months has been hands off treatment to reduce pain/internal swelling. Been having laser then a combination of short wave pulse and ultrasound twice a week for the last 3 weeks.

What is the condition?

Osteo1 – are you serious? Some conditions take way longer than that to respond to treatment of any sort. Big unwise leap to make without knowing what the condition is.

Some sort of swelling in the Acromioclavicluar Joint which the impact from cycling seems to agrivate. It got realy bad just after I went on a skills course and learned how to pump

Steroids sounds like a good idea then. Failing that decompresison surgery might be the way forward.

Try icing it to reduce the swelling and using tape to remind the joints of their limits in the mean time.

Best of luck.

There will be some local mixed in with the steroid which will quickly take away any immediate pain from the injection, it may be slightly worse for a day or so after but nothing that should stop your usual activities, shoulders in general tend to respond well especially when guided by US or fluoro, you typically won’t get more than 3 courses of injection though, although for the vast majority of people this seems enough for their body to do it’s job and sort the problem out

I had steroid injections in my shoulder a few times…first time it worked really well, and lated about 2 years – the steroid reduced the inflammation enough to stop the aggravation. 2nd time it didn’t work so well, but got me through the Transrockies, then I came back and had surgery (and it was all a lot more of a mess in there than expected, so 3 hrs of surgery needed!)

Had two in my shoulder, they dont hurt that much! The first time was done by the GP and didnt work (apparently there is a 3:1 chance of this being the case as they can miss the target). Second time it cleared up the problem (bursitus) pretty quick BUT this was done in combination with ultrasound so they knew exactly where they were aiming. Push for the guided option if you have the opportunity as it is likely to be much more effective.

I had one in my spine so not the same and I would say it was more uncomfortable than painfull. I have an irrational fear of needles and was pretty worried about it but just told myself to be brave. It was a lot easier than I had imagined and all over pretty quickly. I’m no doctor but I think there’s always an infection risk. I’m not sure what else but just make sure you get all your questions answered before deciding. And I would get that scan done first too.

before you get the steroid injection ask the person doing it how many they have done – it needs skill and accuracy to get it in the right place and I would want someone who does it a lot to do it.

I had one in my knee after damaging my medial ligaments. Most painful thing that’s ever happened to me, and I can’t say I noticed much benefit (physio eventually worked well for me though). I don’t think I’d bother again.

I had physio on my shoulder after a big stack and after 6 months it still wasn’t right (ac joint issues and some other damage) so I had a steroid injection done by one of the consultants where I work. It felt weird but didn’t really hurt, my shoulder felt a bit odd for a day or 2. It helped the issues I was having with my ac joint but only for about 3 weeks and didn’t help the other problems at all.

I’d say it’s worth a try, my consultant said it might not work but for some people it works amazingly so there’s no real point in not trying it.

RichJJ i’ve just recently had a Sub-Acromial Decompression and still have a partial tear in the tendon, an MRI will show if you need one doing but they did try a steroid injection before the MRI and surgery and ime i’d go for the surgery as a last resort as 12 weeks on my shoulder still hurts and reading it can take up to 2 years for full recovery.