Dr. Joshua John-Ram Schacter explains how cortisone injections for joint pain work. The first one was done in 1948 and became standard by 1951. They typically relieve pain for three to five months, but repeated injections lose effectiveness over time.
1948.
By 1951.
About three to five months.
And they're doing the same thing now that we did in 1948. Intraarticular steroid injections have been a super effective method of treating joint pain for a number of years. The first intraarticular steroid injection of cortisone was performed in 1948. By 1951, it had become the standard of care. And through the 60s and 70s, 80s, 90s, and even now, the basic tenet of treatment with intraarticular steroid has unchanged. We're doing the same thing now that we did in 1948. And with all of the technological changes that we've seen in medicine, especially in orthopedics, I think it's pretty surprising that we still do this. We know that steroids can give you symptomatic relief for a short amount of time. Typically, steroid injections are a short period of time, about three to five months. Very rarely do they last much longer than that. And we also know that steroid injections have a diminishing return. So every steroid injection we do in your tissue or joint in the same area will reduce effect over years. And anybody who's had multiple steroid injections knows that, you know, they become less effective with time.
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