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Midtown Manhattan
36 W 44th St Ste 1416 New York, NY 10036
Tendons, nerves, muscles and bones have to squeeze together in the narrow joint known as your wrists. When you hurt your wrist, you can get a wrist cortisone injection to ease your pain and stop the swelling. A cortisone wrist injection delivers steroids and a local anesthetic right where it’s needed. Ask your sports injury and pain doctor in New York City for an injection in the wrist for fast relief. It works up to three months, and the cortisone injection in wrist side effects are minimal. Make an appointment today in our pain management clinic to get your pain evaluation and treatment. Meet our pain doctor Febin, he is an experienced pain relief doctor.
Your wrist is a delicate yet vital joint, the smallest of your body. As a consequence, it’s easy to injure your wrist in a fall or from overuse. Soccer may be the only sport for which you don’t need your wrist; all other sports potentially put your wrists in harm’s way. When illness or an injury occurs, however, you can get pain relief from a cortisone wrist injection.
Formulated from a common adrenal gland hormone, the corticosteroid medicine in an injection in the wrist eases your pain and fights the inflammation causing the pain. Steroids are anti-inflammatory medicine, although the pain-killing effect takes several days after a cortisone wrist injection to start working. This treatment is effective for a number of wrist maladies, including:
Usually, our physician recommends more conservative treatments — everything from pain medications to physical therapy — before turning to a cortisone wrist injection. Sometimes, those treatments are enough to ease the pain and heal the problem. But when a wrist cortisone injection is the best alternative, you’re in good hands at the New York City pain management clinic.
The procedure for a wrist cortisone injection follows a straightforward approach. The entire process is done in the doctor’s office, so you’re made as comfortable as possible. Then:
The local anesthetic in the injection provides instant pain relief, but it wears off in several hours. Your pain may return then because the steroids don’t start working until two or three days after the injection. In the meantime, over-the-counter pain relievers are usually effective at controlling your pain.
I visited Dr. Melepura once to have an injection in my wrist, and I haven't had any pain since. I thank him for helping me feel better!
Laura BartonUnexpected side effects are very rare, as long as you’re not allergic to the injected steroid medication. If you notice any of the cortisone injections in wrist side effects, contact our sports pain management clinic. Most are rare and many aren’t serious, but let your knowledgeable doctor decide. These risks and side effects, which are most often temporary, include:
If you’re given too much cortisone in your joints, it can eat away at the cartilage there, which can emphasize any arthritis you already have. Therefore, your doctor limits your exposure. You can’t get a cortisone wrist injection more frequently than every six weeks, and your physician should limit the number of injections you get to fewer than four per year which includes all steroid injections, including the cervical epidural and lumbar epidural steroid injections.
The most common wrist injection is a steroid shot (commonly referred to as a cortisone shot). Steroid shots work by reducing inflammation in your joint right away. The shot is injected under back of your wrist crease. This is called the palmaris longus tendon. When a wrist injection is done all the other tendons must be avoided. If a bone is hit, the doctor has to pull the needle out and try again. This is why it’s important to visit an experience physician for a cortisone shot.
Steroid injections for treating arthritis pain are safe when their use is limited to no more than four injections a year. However, with larger doses and repeated use, potential side effects can occur. Repeated steroid injections may worsen arthritis and weaken your tendons and bones. Longterm injections can damage the joint and its cartilage. Cartilage is the cushion for your joints. So, only use injections when necessary and recommended by your doctor.
A wrist injection is slightly more painful than getting your blood drawn. You may feel faint after the injection so it is recommended to lie down. For most patients, one shot is enough to treat symptoms of wrist pain and inflammation. An anaesthetic is injected at the same time of the cortisone. Most doctors don’t do two separate shots to decrease the amount of punctures and pain.
A wrist injection usually begins to work in 2-7 days. However, this varies from person to person. Some patients report immediate relief, while others state that the steroid takes a few days to kick in. This also depends on the level or inflammation. More severe inflammation may take longer to subside.
Wrist injections typically last for 6 weeks to 6 months. Cortisone shots reduce inflammation to relieve pain. What they don’t do is treat the underlying condition. Causes of acute inflammation react better than severe inflammation.
Right after a cortisone wrist injection, you may experience pain and inflammation at the injetion site for up to 48 hours. After that your pain and inflammation should decrease. The results depend on the reason for the injection.
It’s important to keep moving your wrist after your injection. Your wrist may feel stiff, but moving it will actually help with the stiffness. You can also keep your arm elevated if your wrist becomes swollen. Raise your arm above your heart to help get the blood flowing. You can go home, drive, and go back to work right after you get the injection.
You can resume your exercise regimen 24 hours after your cortisone injection. Once you do go back to the gym, start with light work outs and gradually increase the intensity. It’s important to keep moving, just be careful not to over exert yourself.
You can shower right after your wrist injection. However, avoid soaking in a bathtub or hottub. It is okay to get the injection site wet.
Wrist injections are covered by most insurances. However, if you have a high deductible the cost of an injection ranges from $90 to $110.
You can get a wrist injection 3-4 times a year. Usually, the first injection should be effective enough to avoid too many repeat injections.
Do you have any questions about the wrist injection we offer in NYC? Would you like to schedule an appointment with the best-rated pain management doctor Febin Melepura MD of a sports injury clinic in New York? Please contact our office for a consultation with the pain relief specialist in Midtown Manhattan.
Febin Melepura, MD is a top rated, best in class interventional pain management doctor. He is a nationally recognized pain relief specialist and is among the top pain care doctors in New York City and the country. He is an award winning expert and contributor to a prominent media outlets.
Dr. Febin Melepura has been recognized for his thoughtful, thorough, modern approach to treating chronic pain and, among other accolades, has been named a “top pain management doctor in New York”, and one of “America’s Top Doctors™” for an advanced sports injury treatments.