Does cortisone injection treat shoulder impingement?

Shoulder impingement describes pain when tissues around the shoulder become irritated during movement, often as the arm lifts. Cortisone may calm inflammation in the space around these tissues, making daily movement or physiotherapy more manageable. Relief does not prove that one particular structure is responsible, and it may not last. An examination helps distinguish impingement from rotator cuff injury, frozen shoulder, or arthritis.

Book an assessment if pain interferes with dressing, reaching, or sleep. A clinician may recommend modifying overhead activity, maintaining comfortable range of motion, and progressing shoulder exercises that improve control and strength. Ask about the injection's target, expected benefit, and alternatives before deciding. Find more detail in [Shoulder Impingement](/conditions/shoulder-impingement/) and [Cortisone Injection](/treatments/non-surgical-orthopedics/cortisone-injection/).

Seek urgent care after an injury if the arm cannot be lifted, the shoulder is visibly out of place, or the hand becomes numb, pale, or cold. After an injection, contact a clinician promptly for fever, spreading redness, drainage, or rapidly increasing pain.

What is causing the impingement symptoms? Which movements should I change? Would physiotherapy be enough without an injection? What symptoms should make me stop an exercise?