Hi all
I would like to highlight some of the issues
involved in
injecting cortisone inside hip joint. Cortisone is the powerful
anti-inflammatory medicine available right now. It is no
doubt
a life saving medicine. However it got its own side effects,
especially when it is injected inside a joint. It is like a
double edged sword. It takes away the pain but it slowly cause
more
damage to the joint. The pain relief is only temporary, may be
for few weeks or few months. Cortisone directly cause
damage
to the articular surface and also since it masks the pain
the
joint is subjected to more trauma and thereby causing more
damage. When the head of femur is damaged and become soft,
the
chance of getting resurfacing is less. And also cortisone
injected joint is more prone for infection due to direct
inoculation of micro organism and lowering immunity. Hence
this
cortisone injection is to be avoided.
For some reason the OS in USA are injecting more
cortisone
inside the joint. The American patients coming to us for
resurfacing invariably had atleast couple of cortisone
injections
before. This may be because it is FDA and insurance approved
procedure. In other part of world this is practiced very
cautiously and rarely. Please avoid getting cortisone into your
joint.
Dr.G. Balasubramanian
Hip Resurfacing Surgeon India
www.hipresurfacingcenter.com
