OK I am with Beach about the luck thing.

I have known for years that I have arthitis in both knees. The hip surprised me!!
My right knee has really been bothering me over the years (I have spent many where I have taken one step at a time (on stairs), then it will be ok again. I did injure it years ago playing pine cone soccer with my dog down a mountain trail!! Fell, landed right on a rock.

Back in January it started swelling on occasion. The last few weeks it has acted like my hip , excrutiating pain on some steps. It has hurt walking up and down hills, a few days ago on the stairs it was horrible. I was very glad I still hold on.
Anyway my spine surgeon gave me an injection yesterday.,

So knee people, who has had cortisone and how much or how long did it help for? I will discuss it more with my hip surgeon when I see him at the end of the month.

I will have him take an x-ray, but I am scared to see the results.
Any beginning knee issue info will help so much

Thanks
Judy

Judy,
My O.S. started giving me cortisone injections about eight months prior to my tkr. It hurt like crazy the day after. It lasted about six weeks. Went back and got about five more shots. They seemed to last progressivly shorter amounts of time.
Then we did the three shot Syncisc injections. Didn't do anything at all.
Hope yours does better...Then again, we might just get to keep you on the forum longer!!

Hi Judy, I usually find the cortisone shots last about a year to 18 months at first. Then when you are bone on bone they stop working. Having said that I had a shot in the "good knee" before I had surgery and because of all the strain it had been taking since my TKR I needed to get it done again about a month ago. My OS will only do them about every six months. Sue

Judy, my cortisone shot improved things the next day and lasted for several weeks. I got it right before my surgery so only had one. It was amazing. I am going to the hand surgeon tomorrow for my arthritis and I hope he'll be willing to give me a shot in both hands, but I think the last time I went he said it wasn't approved for the thumb joint. We'll see. I sure hope he doesn't opt for surgery, although he has a 100% success rate with the surgery if I have to have it.

Sorry to hear your hands are not getting better Skeet. All that gardening probably hasn't helped much. How is the yard coming along? Can the kids plant and all you do is water? That shouldn't be as hard on your hands, yes?

You are so funny, Beach! I supervise. I don't do manual labor outside. I do the watering but I just set the plants where they go and my husband and boys do the rest. Mandy helps with plant placement.

The challenge with my hands is lots of thing like crocheting, laundry, little things. I hate it. Thanks for your kind words. It means a lot.

Uh, you left off shooting...Great for the thumbs!!

I have kept my right knee going since 2002 with Synvisc every other year and a booster of cortisone in between. The shots generally work when there is still collagen. I never needed anything in my left knee until last November. The first cortisone shot lasted a couple months, the second lasted less than a week, and now it is the one I just had replaced. I have gotten cortisone shots in the base of my thumb (cmc joint) three times, about a year apart. I don't find cortisone shots painful at all in my knee, foot, or hip, but the ones in the hand are agony. It was worth it for me, however. Now that I am no longer teaching--which means I am no longer writing comments on papers endlessly, I find it easier to accommodate the joint with electric scissors, can opener, etc. I might have the recommended surgery eventually.

Linda,
You are the first person I have EVER talked to who has been helped by Synvisc. Good to know! My left knee was too far gone for cortisone or Synvisc when it was diagnosed (no cartilage left-- but no symptoms until sudden agony. Weird, huh?). My right knee is not as severe so we will probably go with the shots and see if we can hold out for a while on that one (until next summer at a minimum! School calendar, you know!)

I'm glad to know Synvisc is working for you!

thanks guys for all of your cortisone info. As it was my spine surgeon who gave me the shot, when I see my hip surgeon at the end of the month, I hope he will take an x-ray .
That way I can know where I stand!! I think Doug is right about being on this forum for a long time!!

I have had some steps with excrutiating pain. It is kind of going the way of the hip. Nagging for years, more intense in the last 6 months and now occasional excrutiating pain , even when swimming!!!


Judy

I'm surprised so many of you have had so many cortisone shots. Both my OS and an Internist that I used to see for arthritis would only allow 2 shots max in a joint so I had to pick and chose carefully when to get those shots. They said the cortisone was too damaging to the joint/bone to get any more then the two. None of you have heard that?

I have heard 3 maximum.... do you think it was because they knew the joint was going to be replaced in the non-so-distant future that it didn't matter?

I had one cortisone shot. Too little, too late for my knee. I am looking at options for my other knee as school starts up. I am feeling good now on summer break, but am still worried once I am back on my usual schedule. I HAVE to make it through this school year one way or another.

I hope you have a good start in school. You really deserve it after this past year. I'll be optimistic with you that the scope has worked and that a repreive is in your future for the school year. Yeah! Think positive!

After my knee replacement, I asked my OS if he would give me a cortisone shot in my ankle so that I could concentrate on my knee and not be troubled by the ankle problem and he told me no. He went on a diatribe about how the shots are not good for you in the long run and that a shot would only help in one spot. He couldn't get all the pain relieved with a shot because I have problems in multiple parts of the ankle and top of the foot.......... He said something like that anyway. I was kind of surprised...but the ankle held up and didn't really start bothering me again until I returned to work and started my crazy walking. Oh well, such is life. Now, I just need to get up off my duff and find me a good podiatrist.

Hmm - interesting. I had 6 shots in each shoulder - often both joints at the same time - in the space of 18 months (none since leaving work 2 yrs ago) and the surgeon would have given me more had I asked him.

__________________
Left arthroscopic menisectomy 4th October 09
RTKR 17th March 09
Right arthroscopy June 06

Please post in forums; PMs and emails for personalized help are not community oriented and will not be answered. Also search the Library and other threads for information. Thanks.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER - Moderator comments on this web site are provided for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for advice from your personal physician or surgeon.

Administrator is an orthopaedic nurse of 50+ years experience in joint replacement.

I found this explanation on a website that is similar to what I have heard:

"Corticosteroids, such as cortisone and prednisone, have an adverse effect on bone and soft tissue healing. Corticosteroids inactivate vitamin D, limiting calcium absorption by the gastrointestinal tract, and increasing the urinary excretion of calcium. Bone also shows a decrease in calcium uptake with cortisone use, ultimately leading to weakness at the fibro-osseous junction. Corticosteroids also inhibit the release of Growth Hormone, which further decreases soft tissue and bone repair. Ultimately, corticosteroids lead to a decrease in bone, ligament, and tendon strength."

Have you got the link to that, 1jt? I think it may be referring to mid/long term oral medication. As I understand it, the temporary nature of an occasional intra-articular injection would be unlikely to produce the same results as that.

I know that I could always tell a 'cortisone' patient in theatre as they had tissue thin skin and soft bones with very fatty marrow and loads of synovial membrane and s. fluid.

__________________
Left arthroscopic menisectomy 4th October 09
RTKR 17th March 09
Right arthroscopy June 06

Please post in forums; PMs and emails for personalized help are not community oriented and will not be answered. Also search the Library and other threads for information. Thanks.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER - Moderator comments on this web site are provided for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for advice from your personal physician or surgeon.

Administrator is an orthopaedic nurse of 50+ years experience in joint replacement.

Here's the link of this quote: http://www.prolonews.com/knee_cortis...apy_hauser.htm

I think it's really up to you and your doctor to make these decisions. I just know that I have had more then one doctor tell me no more then two. Karen

Here's another website: http://orthopedics.about.com/od/pain.../cortisone.htm

So, How Many Can You Have?

Repeated cortisone injections are not healthy for tissues
Small amounts of cortisone in the body are probably reasonable, but repeated injections can cause damage to tissues over time. Sometimes this is of little concern. For example, if a patient has severe knee arthritis, and a cortisone injection every 6 months helps significantly, then the number of injections probably does not matter too much. On the other hand, if a patient has shoulder tendonitis, but an otherwise healthy shoulder, the number of injections should probably be limited to prevent further damage to these tendons.
So what is the bottom line?
There is no hard and fast rule that says how many cortisone injections can be given over time. However, cortisone injections can have side effects, and repeated use of cortisone injections should be done with caution. Patients should understand that there are reasons not to use cortisone injections, even if they may help some symptoms. Because of this, most orthopedic surgeons will limit the number of cortisone injections they will offer to a patient.

I take that back, I have had three doctors advise against too many shots in a joint. Two OS' and an Internist that specializes in arthritis treatment.

Not so weird to me--I had the same experience. No problem with left knee, sudden agony, knee replacement eight months later--and two months was waiting to get on the surgery schedule.