Are Cortisone Shots for Tendon Injuries Worth It?
Study: Shots Provide Short-Term Relief but Inferior in Long Term By Kathleen Doheny WebMD Health News Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD Oct. 21, 2010 — Corticosteroid injections, better known as cortisone shots, provide short-term pain relief for tendon problems such as tennis elbow but may be worse than other treatments later on, according to a new analysis. “We have shown strong evidence that corticosteroid injection is beneficial in the short term for treatment of tendinopathy, but is worse than other treatment options in the intermediate and long terms,” says researcher Bill Vicenzino, PhD, professor of sports physiotherapy at the University of Queensland in St. Lucia, Australia. ”The strong immediate effects [of pain relief] in a high proportion of patients have led to the notion that they are the miracle treatment,” Vicenzino tells WebMD. But he suspected otherwise, since the treatment is sometimes accompanied by poor long-term outcomes. Some experts had begun to question the use
