What is corticosteroid injection therapy?
Corticosteroids are lipid-like (fat-like) hormones that your body produces naturally. They are responsible for a number of things such as helping reduce swelling.
Injection therapy is very safe and uses sterile, single-use disposable needles. Serious side effects are very rare; less than one in 20,000 treatments. Local anaesthetic can be used to make the injection more comfortable.
What can corticosteroid injection therapy treat?
Corticosteroid injection therapy can be used to treat a variety of conditions including:
- Joint and soft tissue problems
- Osteoarthritis
- Frozen shoulders
- Tennis elbow
- Heel pain
What can I expect?
Your clinician will discuss with you the treatment before gaining your consent. The area to be treated will be exposed and cleaned before the injection is administered.
After the injection you will be asked to wait in the reception area for up to 30 minutes. You will then be asked to rest the injured area for two days and up two weeks, in certain cases.
The benefits of corticosteroid injection therapy
The main benefit of corticosteroid injection therapy is the effective pain relief they should give you. They are often used as a way of reducing pain before beginning physiotherapy exercise programs.
The benefits of the injection may come within minutes if local anaesthetic is used and the corticosteroid should start to take effect within two to three days.
What are Ostenil injections?
Ostenil is an injection treatment for the symptoms of osteoarthritis. It increases the viscosity of what’s known as synovial fluid found in your joints such as the shoulders, knees, ankles and thumbs.
The treatment helps to restore your body’s synovial fluid’s lubricating and shock-absorbing properties. This can reduce the pain, swelling and stiffness, and improve the other symptoms of osteoarthritis.
Despite supporting scientific evidence, this treatment is not currently available on the NHS.
What can Ostenil plus and Ostenil Tendon injections treat?
It can be used in the knee, or in any of the other joints that are classed as synovial such as the shoulders, ankles and thumbs. ‘Ostenil Tendon’ is primarily used in a tendon that is inflamed or damaged.
What can I expect?
If you decide to have Ostenil treatment, it will be injected directly into the joint/tendon. This is done once with ‘Ostenil Plus’ . Ostenil Tendon may have to be repeated dependent on the severity of the inflammation and injury.
The benefits of Ostenil injections
After the injections you should gradually start to feel less pain and stiffness over subsequent weeks. The benefits of Ostenil injections can last up to nine months. Once the effects of the first course of injections wear off you can, if you choose, have another course.
