Steroids to Treat Arthritis (cont.)
What Conditions Are Treated With Steroid Injections?
Steroids often are injected directly into joints to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout or other inflammatory diseases. They also can be injected into inflamed bursae or around tendons near most joints in the body.
Some people report relief from osteoarthritis when steroids are injected directly into the inflamed joints.
What Are the Expected Benefits of Steroid Injections?
Injections into a specific area are generally well tolerated and are less likely than other forms of steroid medications to produce serious side effects. Also, the injections may help avoid the need for oral steroids or increased doses of oral steroids, which could have greater side effects.
What Role Do Steroid Injections Play in an Overall Treatment Program?
Steroid injections can be added to a treatment program that may already include anti-inflammatory painkiller medications, physical therapy, occupational therapy or supportive devices such as canes and braces. Whether one or more of these treatment methods are used depends on the nature of the problem.
For example, in an otherwise healthy person, tendonitis may be adequately treated with only a steroid injection into the inflamed area. However, in a person with rheumatoid arthritis , injections are generally a small part of a multifaceted treatment approach.
When Should Steroid Injections Not Be Used?
Steroids should not be injected when there is infection in the area to be targeted or even elsewhere in the body. Also, if a joint is already severely destroyed, injections are not likely to provide any benefit.
If someone has a potential bleeding problem or is taking anticoagulants (often referred to as blood thinners), steroid injections may cause bleeding at the site. For these people, injections are given with great caution.
Frequent steroid injections, more often than every three or four months, are not recommended because of an increased risk of weakening tissues in the treated area.
Next: What side effects are associated with steroid injections? »
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