Re: My doctor's Visit/ for doug from CT

[Guest guest]

As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor that you are only

allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something (calcium maybe) builds up

in

the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but they slow down

healing.

Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

[Guest guest]

Cortisone can cause bone and skin to deteriorate. They don't like to give too

many cortisone shots near bone because eventually it'll cause more harm than

good. If you have a temporary inflammatory condition it's great. Like a

miracle. Definitely worth a -- shot <g>.

Ann

Re: My doctor's Visit/ for doug from CT

As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor that you are only

allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something (calcium maybe) builds up

in

the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but they slow down

healing.

Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

[Guest guest]

Hi, I know a lil bit about cortisone shots. They are a synthetic of

the natural anti-inflamatory agents in the body, (I can't remember

the name of it). The draw back to cortisone shots is that you should

really only get 2-3 shots per specific area of the body in your life

time. The reason for this is it deterioates the soft tissues. And

with more frequents cortisone shots it can cause cataracts. I

learned about both of these from two independent people. One being a

knee pain sufferer, who just had her first tkr and is schedueled for

the other knee in june. And the other person is a physcial therapist

who has seen some of the long term side effects of cortisone.

I hope this helps.

Tigger

> As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor that you

are only

> allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something (calcium

maybe) builds up in

> the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but they slow

down

> healing.

>

> Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I could be wrong, but I think the cataract danger is only if you're taking

Prednisone systemically over a long period of time, like if you had a liver

transplant & needed to keep your body from rejecting it. I knew someone who'd

taken Prednisone for a long time & he got kidney failure (not uncommon). Did

you know that Pres. Kennedy took cortisone (internally)? He would have died of

's disease if he hadn't taken it. He did take it for years & apparently

didn't have any ill effects (unless that had something to do with his bad back).

I have a cousin who's taken Prednisone for at least 15 years because she had to

have a liver transplant; she did get kidney failure and now has had a kidney

transplant.

In 1988 my son had a bone cyst (the lymph that normally flows through the bone

couldn't drain out & the bone swelled up, thinning the bone cortex & making it

fragile so that it broke at the drop of a hat). The cyst was about 2 " long and

the bone had swelled up so much it looked like he had a big deltoid on that

side. The cure was to open the cyst (he had to have a general anesthetic),

aspirate the fluid out, and replace it with cortisone -- a huge dollop of it.

This particular type of cyst (it's called a unicameral cyst) responds very well

to cortisone, but the treatment usually has to be repeated at least once, as was

the case with my son. Since then he's suffered no bone deterioration at that

site. For you armchair doctors -- the cyst was right next to the epiphysis (the

growth plate) and he was still growing, and its presence and/or the treatment

interfered with the growth of his humerus so that arm is about an inch shorter

than the other one.

But locally injected cortisone shouldn't be enough to cause a systemic reaction,

I think (I could be wrong). I've had cortisone injected into both shoulders,

both elbows twice, my IT bands at the knee several times, my wrist, and several

finger joints. I never had a problem with it except the skin at the finger

joints became thin & blood seeped out through the injection point -- two weeks

after the injection (!). So I gave up using the cortisone on those joints.

I have also heard, as you have, that you should only have 3 max. injections of

cortisone in any one place in your lifetime due to its effect on bone.

Re: My doctor's Visit/ for doug from CT

Hi, I know a lil bit about cortisone shots. They are a synthetic of

the natural anti-inflamatory agents in the body, (I can't remember

the name of it). The draw back to cortisone shots is that you should

really only get 2-3 shots per specific area of the body in your life

time. The reason for this is it deterioates the soft tissues. And

with more frequents cortisone shots it can cause cataracts. I

learned about both of these from two independent people. One being a

knee pain sufferer, who just had her first tkr and is schedueled for

the other knee in june. And the other person is a physcial therapist

who has seen some of the long term side effects of cortisone.

I hope this helps.

Tigger

> As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor that you

are only

> allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something (calcium

maybe) builds up in

> the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but they slow

down

> healing.

>

> Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I did some checking with my optomologist, and he said that yes, long

term injections of cortisone can cause cataracts. He says that the

steriod stays in your system and builds up in the fluid in the eyes.

It all depends on how old you are, how your body metastizes(sp?) the

steriod, how many you get, how frequently, etc. I hope that helped.

Tigger

> > As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor that

you

> are only

> > allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something (calcium

> maybe) builds up in

> > the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but they

slow

> down

> > healing.

> >

> > Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I had cortisone shots in both knees and it didn't help AT ALL. Has

anyone else had this experience? My doc & I were shocked that it

didn't help, and now it makes me think that maybe I've been

misdiagnosed...or maybe I'm just in that unlucky 10%??

> > As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor that

you

> are only

> > allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something (calcium

> maybe) builds up in

> > the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but they

slow

> down

> > healing.

> >

> > Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

I thought cortisone injections into joints was mainly for people with rheumatoid

arthritis, which is an inflammatory condition. Regular arthritis (I've read)

isn't inflammatory, and CP is a result of the patella being off track (or an

injury) and rubbing on the femur, so it's not an inflammatory condition either.

My understanding is that cortisone only works on inflammation. I was surprised

when you said your doc shot cortisone into your knees. Unless he shot it into

the IT band thinking that it was inflamed (my IT band injections worked on one

knee but not on the other).

Ann

Re: My doctor's Visit/ for doug from CT

I had cortisone shots in both knees and it didn't help AT ALL. Has

anyone else had this experience? My doc & I were shocked that it

didn't help, and now it makes me think that maybe I've been

misdiagnosed...or maybe I'm just in that unlucky 10%??

> > As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor that

you

> are only

> > allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something (calcium

> maybe) builds up in

> > the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but they

slow

> down

> > healing.

> >

> > Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

My understanding is that the patella rubbing against the cartilage

causes inflammation around the kneecap, which is what causes so much

pain. My doc also explained that inflammation itself wears away

(softens) the cartilage, so it's best to get rid of any excess

inflammation. Make sense to anyone? That's why they always prescribe

NSAIDS, too. What I don't get is why the cortisone wouldn't get the

inflammation around my kneecaps down. (You can still see it in the

MRI)? Any ideas?

> > > As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor

that

> you

> > are only

> > > allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something

(calcium

> > maybe) builds up in

> > > the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but

they

> slow

> > down

> > > healing.

> > >

> > > Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

i am taking oral cortizone for swelling. it is a six day dose. has anyone done

that?

Re: My doctor's Visit/ for doug from CT

My understanding is that the patella rubbing against the cartilage

causes inflammation around the kneecap, which is what causes so much

pain. My doc also explained that inflammation itself wears away

(softens) the cartilage, so it's best to get rid of any excess

inflammation. Make sense to anyone? That's why they always prescribe

NSAIDS, too. What I don't get is why the cortisone wouldn't get the

inflammation around my kneecaps down. (You can still see it in the

MRI)? Any ideas?

> > > As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor

that

> you

> > are only

> > > allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something

(calcium

> > maybe) builds up in

> > > the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but

they

> slow

> > down

> > > healing.

> > >

> > > Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

[Guest guest]

It probably does cause inflammation, and inflammation can destroy tissue, so

your doc is right about that. But making the inflammation go away won't make

the cause of the CP go away -- theoretically you could get rid of the pain by

controlling the inflammation, but you'd still get rubbing between the patella &

the femur & eventually you'd have a spot on your patella (and/or the femur) that

doesn't have any articular cartilage any more & you've got bone on bone.

Have you tried strengthening the VMO (so that it can eventually counteract the

vastus lateralis and pull the kneecap medially) and stretching the hams? I

don't know whether it works (I've just started doing this), but most sites on

line that talk about CP recommend these. You can strengthen the VMO with this

exercise:

Lie on the floor (or bed), put a pillow under your knee so that it's bent about

15 degrees. Rotate your leg outward a little (not 90 degrees). Without

bouncing your leg up or lifting it above the pillow, lift your lower leg and

hold it for 10 seconds. Try to concentrate on the feeling in the thigh muscles

and try to use only the VMO (sometimes the vastus lateralis will try to get into

the game, but you don't need it for this & with practice you can recognize when

it's contracting and turn it off). You can see it bulge up on the medial side

of the top end of your kneecap. Do this several times, resting in between.

To stretch the hams without hurting your lower back:

Lie on your back. First stretch the calf muscles by turning your foot up 90

degrees (leg still on the floor). Lift your leg with your foot still at 90

degrees. You may feel serious resistance in your calf muscles (meaning they're

too tight). Don't go too far, but hold the position for 10 seconds if you can.

Then relax your foot and lift your leg higher (bend your other leg so the foot

is on the floor & the knee points toward the ceiling for support). You'll

probably feel stretching in your hamstrings. It helps to either be wearing long

pants so you can hold your leg up by holding onto the cuff, or use a long towel

or Theraband (hook it around your foot -- beware: if you use a Theraband and

you've somehow managed to keep your foot bent 90 degrees to your leg, the

Theraband may slip off and slingshot you in the eye -- I speak from experience).

Once you get to where you can bring your leg straight up & not feel like it's

going to break apart, try lowering it to the right as far as you can (hold for a

few seconds) and to the left as far as you can (for the side stretches you need

something to hold the leg up so that you're not using the muscles you're trying

to stretch -- the Theraband is good, or you can just hold onto your leg with

your hands if it doesn't hurt your back). After stretching all the thigh

muscles, lower your leg & bend it so that your ankle is resting on your other

knee. Raise the supporting knee toward your chest to stretch your glutes.

Don't do this if the knee bending hurts your knee.

I read an article that said that stretching cold muscles only stretches them

temporarily. They recommend heating the muscles first, either with exercise

(e.g. an exercycle) or a hot pack or heating pad. Last night I stretched right

after being in a Jacuzzi for half an hour, and this morning my muscles were way

more flexible than they usually are in the morning.

I've also read that to counteract the pulling force of the vastus lateralis, you

should strengthen the inner thigh muscles. One exercise for this is to lie on

your back, turn your leg so the knee faces outward, and lift the leg (straight).

Ann

Re: My doctor's Visit/ for doug from CT

My understanding is that the patella rubbing against the cartilage

causes inflammation around the kneecap, which is what causes so much

pain. My doc also explained that inflammation itself wears away

(softens) the cartilage, so it's best to get rid of any excess

inflammation. Make sense to anyone? That's why they always prescribe

NSAIDS, too. What I don't get is why the cortisone wouldn't get the

inflammation around my kneecaps down. (You can still see it in the

MRI)? Any ideas?

[Guest guest]

I took oral cortisone in 1993 because I had an allergic reaction to an

antibiotic I was taking (got hives all over from the antibiotic). I took about

10 days' worth, counting the taper-off (you have to taper off cortisone -- while

you're taking it, it takes over part of your kidney function and if you quit

cold turkey you can get kidney failure). For me it was the best 10 days of my

life. I had no pain anywhere, I had a lot of energy, I could carry on 7

projects simultaneously and weave them into each other without messing up, my

memory was excellent, I was intelligent again. It was great! But after I came

off it I got depressed. Also, I know someone who took a course of cortisone who

ended up in the hospital because it affected his brain negatively (he said he

went " psychotic " ). I don't know why different people have such different

reactions to it.

Ann

Re: My doctor's Visit/ for doug from CT

My understanding is that the patella rubbing against the cartilage

causes inflammation around the kneecap, which is what causes so much

pain. My doc also explained that inflammation itself wears away

(softens) the cartilage, so it's best to get rid of any excess

inflammation. Make sense to anyone? That's why they always prescribe

NSAIDS, too. What I don't get is why the cortisone wouldn't get the

inflammation around my kneecaps down. (You can still see it in the

MRI)? Any ideas?

> > > As far as the cortisone shots, I was told by one doctor

that

> you

> > are only

> > > allowed 2 or 3 every so many years because something

(calcium

> > maybe) builds up in

> > > the knees. The other doctor said they may feel great but

they

> slow

> > down

> > > healing.

> > >

> > > Anyone else heard anything about the cortisone shots?

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >