When is cortisone injection recommended for osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis affects the tissues of a joint and can cause pain with use, stiffness after rest, reduced range of motion, and occasional swelling. Cortisone is a corticosteroid used to reduce inflammation inside or around a selected joint. It may be less useful when pain has a different source, such as a tendon or nerve problem. Exercise suited to the joint, pacing, strengthening, supportive devices, and an agreed pain plan remain important even if an injection is chosen. Benefits vary and can fade.

Book a review if osteoarthritis is affecting sleep, work, walking, or self-care. Describe the joint involved, what activities provoke pain, morning stiffness, swelling, and what you have already tried. Share your medicines, allergies, diabetes history, immune problems, and any recent infection. Ask how to protect the joint while symptoms settle and follow the clinician’s advice about activity after the procedure.

Get prompt medical attention for a suddenly hot and swollen joint, fever, severe unexplained pain, inability to use the limb, or a recent injury causing deformity. Following an injection, seek urgent advice for worsening redness, warmth, drainage, severe pain, or fever. A new rapidly progressive symptom should not be assumed to be ordinary osteoarthritis.

Ask whether inflammation is contributing to your symptoms, what alternatives are appropriate, and how the injection fits your longer-term plan. Discuss expected timing of relief, aftercare, medicine adjustments, and the signs that should prompt reassessment.