Sick of heel pain..…will cortisone injections cure your foot woes?

March 1, 2018

Do you have heel pain or foot pain caused by plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendonitis?  Have you found out the root cause of your pain?

10% of all people will experience heel pain at some stage. Cortisone injections will only mask the symptoms they will not cure the condition.  Often times when cortisone does help reduce pain relapse is likely to occur within 3-6 months”

Have you considered or been recommended to have a cortisone injection? Don’t be fooled into thinking this will get rid of the problem.

The most common causes of heel pain are overactivity, improper shoes, flat feet or excessive weight on the feet. If these underlying causes are left untreated the benefits of cortisone will only be short lived! With each relapse the pain will become more intense, the problem harder to fix and in severe cases the effects irreversible.

When you see an expert who lives and breathes treating heal pain everyday, you’ll finally be in the right hands so that you can get rapid, lasting relief of pain and get back to loving your life of activity and be more ‘you’.

“The risks of steroid injections are often not communicated and these risks need to be weighed up against how much pain you are in. This in turn can create a whole new problem” says Lisa Wilkes, Director at Podiatry Point.

If you have ever wanted to get free from your heel pain then keep reading these next three golden nuggets as they might just change you life.

  1. Corticosteroids are steroid hormones that are normally produced by the body in response to pain or stress. Hence, a synthetically produced corticosteroid can help reduce inflammation in the site it is injected into. This powerful anti inflammatory can help with pain
  2. The number one risk is that corticosteroids can affect the integrity of the ligaments, cartilage and fat pad of the area it is being injected into. So the benefits of this treatment really need to be weighed up against where each individual is in their treatment journey.
  3. Cortisone injections are usually only administered as a last treatment option after all conservative treatment options are exhausted. This is because although corticosteroids do help with the reduction of inflammation and pain, it does not solve the root problem.

So the best time to consider this line of treatment, if at all, is a very individual decision and should be made as part of a whole treatment plan not just as a once off, band aid fix.

If any of this relates to you then you will be glad to learn we have developed the Ultimate heel pain assessment to get to the bottom of the cause of your heel pain and help you beat it once and for all.

If this resonates with you then click on the following link to book an appointment online or give us a call on 07 4646 2016 and we will be thrilled to get you back to the life you love.

 

Articles:

  1. Steroid injection for heel pain: evidence of short-term effectiveness. A randomized controlled trial.

Crawford F, Atkins D, Young P, Edwards J

Rheumatology (Oxford). 1999 Oct; 38(10):974-7.

 

  1. Treatment of plantar fasciitis by iontophoresis of 0.4% dexamethasone. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Gudeman SD, Eisele SA, Heidt RS Jr, Colosimo AJ, Stroupe AL

Am J Sports Med. 1997 May-Jun; 25(3):312-6.

 

  1. Glucocorticoids suppress proteoglycan production by human tenocytes.

Wong MW, Tang YY, Lee SK, Fu BS

Acta Orthop. 2005 Dec; 76(6):927-31.

 

  1. Tatli YZ, Kapasi S. The real risks of steroid injection for plantar fasciitis, with a review of conservative therapies. Current Reviews in Musculoskeletal Medicine. 2009;2(1):3-9. doi:10.1007/s12178-008-9036-1.

 

  1. http://www.aofas.org/footcaremd/treatments/Pages/Plantar-Fascia-Injection.aspx