Cortisone Injection in Edmonton

Cortisone shots (steroid injections) deliver a dose of medication directly to a problem spot in your body. The cortisone calms your immune system's response in that location. This reduces pain and inflammation. They can help you manage symptoms or conditions that make it hard to participate in all of your day-to-day activities. By reducing the pain, the hope is to get you back moving and exercising.

Please always eat a light meal and hydrate well before any injection therapy. For your safety, we do not do injections if you have an active infection. We encourage you to make your follow up appointment before you leave the clinic.

You should not receive steroid injections if you have an infection. Corticosteroids have a short-term immunosuppressant effect and can make it harder for your body to fight an infection and heal itself.

It takes 10 to 14 days to see the full benefit of a cortisone injection. Cortisone injections should last three months or more.

Always follow up with your doctor after the injection. Call right away if you are experiencing any signs of worsening pain or infection.

Cortisone suppresses inflammation to calm a painful area. Prolotherapy does the opposite: it causes a small, controlled amount of inflammation so the body repairs weakened tissue. Which one fits depends on whether the problem is an inflamed structure or a weakened one, which is what the assessment sorts out.

The most common side effects of cortisone (steroid) shots include pain at the injection site, a temporary increase in swelling, bruising, temporarily increased blood sugar levels (people with diabetes should check their blood sugar level more often for about five days after a cortisone shot), discoloration or redness on your skin at the injection site, and skin lightening or looking paler near the injection site.

It is rare for steroid injections to cause severe side effects, but it is possible to experience infections at the injection site, high blood pressure (hypertension), and fluid retention with increased swelling.

People who receive many rounds of steroid injections may have an increased osteoporosis risk. Patients with bleeding disorders or on anticoagulants (blood thinners) have increased risk of bleeding.