Dr. Joshua John-Ram SchacterDr. Joshua Schacter, DO FAAOS, is America’s Holistic Orthopedic Surgeon, with nearly two decades of surgical expertise.

Steroid Shots Damage Your Joints Long-Term

20 Sept 2025 · 1 min

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0:43

Dr. Joshua John-Ram Schacter explains how steroid injections, used since 1948, damage joints over time by depositing crystals and causing progressive arthritis. Harm was recognized within five years. Injections also raise infection risk after surgery and affect blood sugar in diabetics, so they should be avoided three months before joint replacement.

Questions this video answers

About 1948.

About five years later (speaker's claim).

Do not perform a steroid injection within three months of joint replacement or reconstructive surgery.

Chapters

We don't want to do a steroid injection within three months of that surgery.
Problem two I see as injectable steroids. We started injecting steroids into joints in about 1948. We have known since about five years from that time that steroids injected into tissues and joints can be damaging. And so when they're injected into soft tissues, they deposit crystals. They cause local soft tissue damage. They can increase the risk of rupture of these tissues. When we inject them into joints, they cause progressive arthrosis. They can increase your risk of infection after surgery, so much so that if we're going to do a joint replacement or, you know, a reconstructive surgery, we don't want to do a steroid injection within three months of that surgery. They also affect overall health and can significantly impact a patient's metabolism. Any of our diabetic patients can tell us that.