I love modern medicine, new ways to help joint pain, inflammation and help us all have a better quality of life.
But we don’t always get the cons on a treatment and we always get the pros. Like to know both and make an informed decision so today I’m gonna share the cons on a few treatments.
Having osteoarthritis and osteonecrosis in my right knee and OA in left, arthritis in hands and Spondylolisthesis in my back I want to be aware of my options when it comes time for pain relief.Especially when we are taking injections.
For me injections are a no no for my back, had them years ago trigger points injections and I swear it weakened my back and leading me to develop bilateral pars fractures and spondylolisthesis. So unless my life depends on it steroids are a no for me.
I had a couple of these injections in my back and knee and honestly I felt worse after, my pain was no better and steroid injections in my opinion mask the pain and can cause Osteonecrosis and according to many articles they can have many side effects
This post is to raise awareness about all injections and make you aware that everything has possible side effects.
Cortisone shots are injections that can help relieve pain and inflammation in a specific area of your body. They’re most commonly injected into joints such as your ankle, elbow, hip, knee, shoulder, spine or wrist. Even the small joints in your hands or feet might benefit from cortisone shots. But they have many potential side effects.
Steroid Injections Most notably, cortisone is known to break down tissues, such as articular cartilage in the joint.1-3 Cartilage is crucial to joint health, acting as a shock absorber and reducing friction between bones when a person moves.
All patients need access to all the information and told the advantages and disadvantages so we make a better decision and voice our concerns to our physician.
Injections are no cure all, although some doctors seem to use steroids for every thing. It’s been said it’s the go to drug.
But you can end up with other conditions like
Side effects of cortisone injections can include:
• Cartilage damage.
• Death of nearby bone aka Osteonecrosis aka Avascular Necrosis
• Joint infection.
• Nerve damage.
• Temporary facial flushing.
• Temporary flare of pain and inflammation in the joint.
• Temporary increase in blood sugar.
• Thinning of the skin near that area
• Tendon weakening or rupture.
PRP Injections Platelet Rich Plasma
When treating osteoarthritis with platelet-rich plasma, a doctor injects PRP directly into the affected joint area. The goal is to:
• Reduce pain
• Improve joint function
• Possibly slow, halt, or even repair damage to cartilage
Platelet-rich plasma is derived from a sample of your own blood. The therapeutic injections contain plasma with a higher concentration of platelets than is found in normal blood. Because it’s using your own blood no or less rejection chance.
Platelet-rich plasma injections may not be appropriate for a patient who: Has a medical condition that could worsen or spread with injections, such as an active infection, a metastatic disease, or certain skin diseases. Has certain blood and bleeding disorders.
Hyaluronic Acid Injections Not all studies conducted to test the effectiveness of hyaluronic acid injections in treating knee osteoarthritis have reported positive results. That is way some doctors may not recommend this treatment.
Research suggests that hyaluronic acid injections may work in several ways to reduce knee osteoarthritis symptoms.For example, hyaluronic acid injections may reduce inflammation and friction; and the slow the degeneration of cartilage and bone.
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:
• Allergy to bacterial proteins, gram positive or
• Allergy to hyaluronate preparations or
• Skin or knee joint infections or other problems at the place where the injection is to be given Should not be given in patients with these conditions.
• Joint effusion (too much fluid in the knees)—Patients with this condition should be treated first before receiving this medicine.
Stem Cell Injections known as the gold standard Stem Cell Therapy Safety
Most stem cell therapy using adult stem cells are considered safe because the stem cells are collected from the patient, minimizing the risk of an unwanted reaction. The most common side effects are temporary swelling and pain.
Our own stem cells is a cell or group of cells which have the capability or potential to differentiate themselves into any specialized cell of the human body and that those new cells perfectly fulfill the functions that correspond to them. These cells are very important in the early stages of life because, thanks to their differentiation, the different organs and systems can be properly formed and the human body can grow.
But injections gave the pros and cons
Other potential safety concerns for unproven treatments include:
The cost is expensive and most often not covered by insurance
• Administration site reactions,
• The ability of cells to move from placement sites and change into inappropriate cell types or multiply,
• Failure of cells to work as expected, and
• The growth of tumors.
Even if stem cells are your own cells, there are still safety risks such as those noted above. In addition, if cells are manipulated after removal, there is a risk of contamination of the cells.
There are risks in all treatments, I wish when doctors were explaining all the great benefits of something they would also inform us of the cons.
I hope this helps
References
Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cortisone-shots/about/pac-20384794
Arthritis-health https://www.arthritis-health.com/treatment/injections/potential-pros-and-cons-prp-injections
Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/hyaluronic-acid-injection-route/description/drg-20074557
Cleveland Clinic https://health.clevelandclinic.org/stem-cell-injections-emerging-option-for-joint-pain-relief-2/
Chronically Grateful Me by Deb Andio 
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