Steroid Injections

breane

Hi,This morning I had my first steroid injection for painful shoulders and my Gp said it should give me relief for 4-6 weeks.However,I forgot to ask him how many times can you have this type of injection in a year.Also,is there less side effects with the injection rather than tablet form? Thank you. Breane.

helpline_team

Hi Breane
If the injection was directly into your shoulder joint then there is usually as maximum of three times altogether into that joint.
If this was a systemic injection i.e. into your leg or bottom, there isn't really a limit to the number of times you can have it done.
However, although injections tend to cause less side effects than long term tablets, if you were to have a lot of them, say every few weeks for years, you might get some side effects. Your GP will keep a record of how many you have.
Best wishes
Val