Article: Don't rush back to the course after a cortisone shot

[boogielicious]

From golfdigest.com

http://www.golfdigest.com/blogs/the-loop/2015/04/dont-rush-back-to-the-course-a.html

I've had a few shots in the knee and lower back.  They do help, but you need to give it time to help you recover before stressing the area as the study suggests.

Don't rush back to the course after a cortisone shot

By Ron Kaspriske

A recently published report in the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation warns of the potential danger of thinking a cortisone shot is the green light you need to get back on the course after injury.

While it's intent is to speed recovery—or at least mask the pain from inflammation—tendinopathy treatments such as steroid injections could do more harm than good if administered improperly, or if the patient rushes back to strenuous physical activities.

The paper specifically cautioned the speedy return to sports activities after an injection near the trigger or index finger. But in general terms, "patients should be warned about returning to sports prematurely, and should be encouraged to gradually resume after the injection to prevent further damage." They cited the case of a 57-year-old golfer who suffered a tendon rupture in his forearm after getting a steroid shot near his trigger finger. The forearm muscles control the finger movements and the index finger is a key player in swinging a golf club properly.

So what's the message? Be careful even considering cortisone. It's been known to weaken soft-tissue fiber and also mask pain that would otherwise deter you from doing further harm to an injured area. Keep that in mind—and the message in the AJPM&R;—if a doctor recommends a shot.

Ron Kaspriske is the fitness editor of Golf Digest.

[Dpt2005]

This provides some good food for thought. Cortisone, or any other anti inflammatory medication for that matter, does have its place to help keep those of us who are active.....moving! However, all an anti inflammatory is doing is providing immediate pain relief of pain chemical causing discomfort and inflammation to an injured area. This does not mean it FIXES the actual problem that is giving you the pain symptoms, which is what is making you seek out the medication in the first place. Anti inflammatories provide a window of opportunity to allow for pain relief in order to attend to the original problem. If not attended to, the pain relief inhibits one from experiencing further discomfort while continuing to overuse a "broken" part of the body. Ever notice how some people say "the first shot worked great, but the next 1 or 2 didn't do anything". Well, by ignoring the true underlying problem and continung to break down an injured area, the problem becomes worse and the pain threshold now becomes higher so that the next dose of medication is unable to reach that threshold and therefore "it didn't do anything this time around". Pain control is good and needed at times, but be careful to remember that pain is the body's way of saing something is not right. The pain is not the problem; don't make it worse and shorten your season by ignoring your alarm system. Thanks and keep swinging!