Have arthritis? Beware of corticosteroid injections

New studies reveal that getting corticosteroid injections to relieve the pain of arthritis might actually cause your arthritis to worsen. NBC news reports on two small studies which found that people with arthritis who skipped the corticosteroid injections saw their arthritis progress more slowly than those who had the injections.

Some 32 million adults in the US have arthritis in their hands, hips and/or knees. People with osteoarthritis, which is the most common arthritis, lose some of the cartilage that surrounds their joints. Their joints become inflamed and stiff.  Arthritis cannot be cured, but it can be treated to ease the pain.

Most people get corticosteroid injections to treat their pain. Others get hyaluronic acid injections. The studies found that hyaluronic acid injections or no injections led to slower progressing of people’s arthritis, slower deterioration of their cartilage, than corticosteroid injections.

An earlier study also found that corticosteroid injections in knees and hips could speed up the deterioration of cartilage and sometimes also accelerate the need for joint replacements. And, yet another study confirmed this finding for people receiving corticosteroid injections as well as people receiving hyaluronic acid injections. But, the study sizes were small. So, what precisely causes the speeding up of cartilage deterioration is not 100 percent clear; it might not be the injections.

Experts are of several minds about these findings. For example, it could be that the people who receive the steroid injections exercise more, aggravating their arthritis. Also, the findings were based on images taken of people’s joints. They did not indicate that the people who received the steroid injections experienced more pain.

And, not all the experts interviewed believed that steroid injections should be avoided. They believe steroid injections could have value because they can minimize people’s pain. Other experts thought that steroids and hyaluronic acid injections should be avoided, and there should be good alternatives, though none were identified!

Here’s more from Just Care:

• Seven lifestyle changes for managing rheumatoid arthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis drug has dangerous side effects
• Feet hurt? Foot care is key
• Exercise helps strengthen your knees, even when it causes pain
• It’s Medicare Open Enrollment: To save money and avoid big risks, check out your options