What does cortisone injection treat?

A corticosteroid is placed near the painful structure to calm inflammation. Clinicians may consider it for frozen shoulder, hand or ankle osteoarthritis, elbow osteoarthritis, golfer’s elbow, De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, or hallux rigidus when symptoms remain limiting after appropriate first measures. The target may be a joint, a tendon sheath, or nearby soft tissue, so the injection is selected for the diagnosed problem rather than pain alone.

Relief can create a window for movement and rehabilitation, but the injection does not rebuild worn cartilage or correct every mechanical cause. Suitability depends on the diagnosis, medicines, skin condition, general health, and the planned injection site.

Tell the clinician about diabetes, blood-thinning medicine, allergies, infection, and previous reactions to injections. Ask what activity to avoid briefly afterwards and how exercise will support the treated area. Keep the site clean and follow the specific aftercare plan; do not use a temporary improvement to overload the joint or tendon.

Contact a clinician promptly for increasing redness, warmth, swelling, drainage, fever, or pain that escalates rather than settles after an injection. Seek urgent help for breathing difficulty, facial swelling, faintness, or other signs of a severe allergic reaction.

What structure will you inject, what improvement are we aiming for, and what alternatives fit my diagnosis? How will my medicines or diabetes affect preparation and monitoring?