Cortisone Injection ITBS

dsdelis

Hi,
I am looking for some insight on cortisone injections. Are they effective in helping itbs? Is there any serious drawbacks or side-effects? Is it injected into the tendon or just under the skin?
Thanks, Dean

aa9t8

i have had a few injections over the years
the last one was into my hip socket to treat arthitis. it was sucsessfull although a little uncomfortable, ya know a deep injection about 2 inches from a place we do not want anybody poking around like that. it is my understanding that the substance is man made and never leaves the body. does not break down and will eventually pool somewhere. it has too. there is a website called totally hip that lady had the cortisone pool in her hip and it killed the bone etc. on the other hand used in moderation it can be a really good thing. me i use cycling, liquid glucoseamine, and silkworm enzyme to manage my pain. research what you are going to get done, and i would look at more natural treatments. good luck

shikepoke

I have a friend who was a national class distance runner who had severe ITBS while running in college. She tried all the usual treatments and nothing helped. As a last resort one of the trainers injected cortisone into her ITB at the source of the pain and it fixed it. In her case the ITBS never came back but usually there's no guarantee when using cortisone. Sometimes the pain will subside until the cortisone wears off and then it will return.

discobean7

It's really a matter of doing things the fast way or doing things the right way. ITBS is an overuse injury caused by limited flexibility and/or improper bike fit. Usually your bike fit just needs to be tweaked to accomodate your limited flexibility. This should be done by a professional with small position changes done over time. Couple this with a couple weeks off the bike, ice, daily stretching, and maybe even some rehab exercises to strengthen hip flexors, adductors, VMO etc. This would be the right way to do it. The fast way is to get through the pain with NSAIDS and cortisone injections. If you are racing, on a tight training schedule, or supporting yourself by cycling then the fast way is appropriate. If not, do things the right way. Some people do see complete resolution of symptoms after just one injection so you could try one injection if you so desire. However, chronic and repeated use of cortisone actually weakens tendons thus predisposing you to further injury down the road. Good luck. Let us know how things turn out.

__________________
"if at first you don't succeed, redefine success"

Felt_Rider

As other have mentioned some of the drawbacks to cortisone it will mask the pain sensors, but it does not necessarily fix the problem especially if you continue to train while the pain is being masked.

If you are not an athlete that is receiving a paycheck based on performance than IMO it is best to look at your life in long term impact.

A few weeks of rest to let the inflammation subside naturally is not significant in the comparison to the span of years.

When I have an injury I usually try to find a way to train around it so that at least I do not completely holistically atrophy, but I will careful to isolate so that the injured area can rest and rehab.

Just a thought

dsdelis

thanks for all the input. it seems like the initial injury is healing well. but the main problem is inflammation. i have read that cortisone has strong anti-inflammatory properties. my sports doc says a small amount could be effective here. he cautions that injecting near a load bearing tendon carries some risk. i am leaning toward not trying it.
again, thanks for the info, Dean

Felt_Rider

The shot will make it feel a lot better and it will reduce inflammation as long as you rest and not continue to irritate the area. If it is healing well I would still tend to avoid the injection if possible. In my latter years I have really been trusting more in rest and ice for injuries.

Here is some more information that might be helpful.

songlady

I had a cortisone shot delivered by an Ortho in June after suffering from a mild to moderate case of ITBS for the past 6 months. I had already done PT and this was another attempt at relief. The shot was put into my "worst" knee/leg and was not successful for me. I had relief from the pain for a week, but after the doctor instructed me to return to cycling, the pain came back. The things that really worked for me were #1- lowering my seat height and #2-stretching; specifically lying on my side and putting a tennis ball underneath the side of my leg, moving the tennis ball around between my hip and my knee attempting to work out the sore spots. I've gone from barely being able to ride 5 miles to 30 milers with almost no symptoms in the past 2 months.