CINCINNATI (WKRC) - If you have pain in your knees or hips, a common treatment could have a hidden complication. Steroid injections are often used to reduce inflammation that can cause pain, especially if you have arthritis. Now, a study in the journal Radiology says using them may make that arthritis worse.
For years, Dr. Jonathon Spanyer, an orthopedic surgeon, has used steroid injections to try and reduce a patient's pain from arthritis.
"There's good evidence that shows they're helpful injections. They do improve people's quality of life and their function, but some newer studies that are suggesting there may be some downsides to them as well," Dr. Spanyer said.
Those downsides, according to this study, included what appeared to be joint problems that got worse instead of better about seven months after the injections.
Dr. Spanyer says that worsening included things he normally would see in patients with arthritis progressing toward a need for a joint replacement, like further loss of cartilage, bone loss and fractures.
"In this particular study, they found 8% of their patients had some progression of arthritis, but it begs the question: What percentage of those patients would have had progression of arthritis, even if they had not had injections?" Dr. Spanyer said.
Dr. Spanyer says if you have concerns, talk to your doctor about other treatments that may also help in similar ways to reduce pain. Some of these include, multiple lubricating injections, topical numbing agents and even continued fitness prescriptions.
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