I had a steroid injection in my shoulder. How long will it be before it works?

Cathx180

I had a follow up appointment with my Rheumatology consultant and he said he thought I had nerve damage in my shoulder. He gave me a steroid injection into the shoulder. How long will it take to take effect?

helpline_team

Hi Cathx180

Thank you for posting on the helpline forum, it’s very difficult to advise exactly how long you may find benefit from these injections. There are different strengths and types of steroid injections and this can impact how long you may feel the benefit for. How quick the treatment works, and how long it lasts will also depend on your condition.

Some steroid injections start to work within hours and the effects can last around a week. Your doctor or other healthcare professional might call these short-acting soluble steroids. Soluble means that the drug dissolves quickly in your body and starts working quickly. Other steroid injections can take around a week to become effective but can ease your symptoms for two months or longer. These are described as less soluble because the drug takes longer to get into your system.

Hopefully, the link below about steroid injections will be helpful for you. I hope that the injection is beneficial for you.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/drugs/steroid-injections/

Best wishes

Chris

Helpline Advisor

Cathx180

Thank you