Is Cortisone Injections Safe To Take?

Posted on Sat, 7 Jun 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 7 Jun 2014 Answered on

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : my son is XXXXof having cortizone injections, he claims it builds up in your body and can cause problems after awhile. I've had them every once in a while for knee pain and once for bursitis.
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Answered by Dr. Kerry Pottinger (22 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Cortisone injections do not build up in the body.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thank you for using Healthcare Magic. Side effects of cortisone injections into joints are very uncommon. This is because the dosage used is relatively low and it does not spread throughout the body in the way that oral steroids do.
Repeated injections onto a joint may cause some thinning of the skin or blanching of the skin but this is rare. Multiple injections into muscle may cause some muscle weakness but again this is rare.
I hope this is of help. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards,
Dr K A Pottinger,
MBChB. FRCA

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar