Your doctor may recommend using steroid joint injections to help ease your symptoms if you suffer from an autoimmune disorder such as rheumatoid arthritis. You may also benefit from steroid injections as effective pain relief for joint conditions such as tendonitis.
Many autoimmune health conditions cause inflammation and pain, which steroid injections can help to relieve. While your doctor can prescribe oral steroid tablets, steroid injections directly into the affected joint can be the most effective course of treatment.
The type of steroid used in injections is called corticosteroids. Don’t worry – these are very different to anabolic steroids that are used to build muscle. Corticosteroids are made to act in the same way as your naturally produced hormone called cortisol.
Cortisol is made in your body by your adrenal glands that sit just above the kidneys. Your body will naturally release cortisol in response to stress in your body from illness or injury. The cortisol will go to the site of the injury to help calm the inflammation that causes you pain.
How steroid injections can help
The corticosteroid solution will help to reduce your immune system activity, which is causing inflammation. Having steroid injections can bring rapid pain relief to the affected area, and will also help to boost your natural anti-inflammatory response.
They can be used to treat a wide range of diseases, conditions, and physical injuries caused by accidents or sporting injuries. Steroid joint injections are commonly used for auto-immune-related diseases, including:
- Allergies
- Bursitis
- Gout
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBS)
- Joint pain
- Lupus
- Multiple sclerosis
- Osteoarthritis
- Plantar fasciitis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sciatica
- Tendinitis
How steroid injections are administered
If you have never had a steroid injection before, you may be wondering what to expect when you have your treatment. There is nothing to worry about and the treatments are not prolonged or painful.
Firstly, you will need to have a consultation with a specialist such as D Naveen Bhadauria who is a Consultant Rheumatologist and specialises in treating inflammatory conditions that affect the joints.
Your consultation will include a review of your medical history, what medications you are currently taking and if you have any allergies. You will also have a thorough physical examination and other diagnostic tests such as an ultrasound scan and blood tests.
Once you are ready for your steroid injection treatment, your doctor may numb the injection site with a local anaesthetic. They will then inject an appropriate steroid solution into the affected area.
The actual injection may feel mildly uncomfortable, but the treatment is very quick and depending on the type of steroid solution used, the pain-relieving effects will start to get to work right away.
After your treatment
Once you have had your steroid injection, you may be asked to rest for 10 to 15 minutes to make sure you have no side effects from the treatment. You will need to keep the injection site clean and dry for 24 hours.
The injection site may feel sore for a day or two, but it shouldn’t be painful and you can help ease the discomfort by applying a cold pack to the area if you want to.
