Steroid injections

nicholaj

I am quite confused as a telephone consultation with a senior physiotherapist resulted in him referring me to the MSK clinic for a steroid injection in my left knee.

However, she declined to give me one as she said my knee is bone on bone, so mechanical wear and tear and not inflammatory.

I see a number of people on this site have had steroid injections for OA and friends have had them.

I am seeing her again in a couple of weeks time and would like advice on whether to ask her for an injection. She was very nice by the way and I felt much better from having a face to face session

helpline_team

Hi Nicholaj,

Thank you for posting on our helpline forum, I am so sorry to hear that you couldn’t have the steroid injection but pleased that you managed to get a face-to-face appointment as they are so rare now.

Unfortunately, I am not sure why you were refused the injection because they have been known to help in pain, it is correct that steroids can help to reduce the inflammation that causes the pain. The injection, at the time can be painful and because we are all different, this treatment does not work for everyone. 

The steroid injection can be placed in different areas depending on the pain and the inflammation.

1.    directly into an inflamed joint, this is known as an intra-articular injection

2.    into the soft tissue close to the joint, which is called a peri-articular injection

3.    into a muscle, which is called an intra-muscular injection.

Like you have mentioned you are seeing her again in 2 weeks’ time so it will not hurt to enquire again and see what is said, I really hope you will eventually get some pain relief in the future.

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

Best wishes

Chris

Helpline Advisor