Advice? Medical Questions on Cortisone shots

[lavendertook]

I'd be grateful for advice here. Questions for any of you who have experience with cortisone shots, with some whining thrown in for good measure:

I went to the podiatrist today to get a cortisone shot in my heel. I have plantar fasciaitis and a small bone spur; ie., my right heel hurts when I walk on it, very seriously if I drive on it too long. The cortisone shot the doctor gave me today hurt like all get out--so badly I had to ask her to stop after only getting a quarter of it into me--which seemed to be taking forever.

She said the cortisone burns and so she had to do it slowly to keep it from being too much. But I think it was the needle being moved about that hurt moreso, though the burn hurt as well. But this was really unbearable. And I may be just a wimp, but yesterday I got a novocaine shot through the roof of my mouth to have a molar pulled out, and that shot hurt much less. I asked the podiatrist if she could inject it faster (in pain, I just can't tell how long it took--it may have been only 30 seconds or over a minute--which means it was going to take at least a couple more minutes to finish), but she said no.

So my question is, do cortisone shots usually hurt unbearably?

Does any shot to the heel hurt worse than a shot in a mouth with an infected tooth? Or did I have the misfortune of getting a war criminal for my podiatrist (like a dentist I had a couple years ago who was totally clueless on pain management--that was the one who also drilled a hole in my tongue--no, I was not getting a piercing.)

I'm not walking in this podiatrist's office again, even if it meant I never walk anywhere again. But should I bother getting a referral to another podiatrist who is better at pain management, or will the pain be just as bad with the most skilled doctor out there?

I'm really hating this podiatrist right now--I felt as shaken after this as I had felt after being slugged in the head. And I thought yesterday getting my tooth pulled at the dentist would be the bad day, but that was a breeze in comparison--this dentist is pretty good at pain management. However, I'm going to have to report this podiatrist for Geneva Convention violations.

Comments

[voontah.livejournal.com]

My dad got a cortisone shot in his foot (I think it was between the toes) and he said it burned something awful.

[http://users.livejournal.com/lucid_dreamer_/]

:( Hunny, -hugs- sorry I wasn't around on AIM tonight. It decided it hated me after a brief reprieve from hate in which it actually let me on... for twenty minutes.

Owowow!! -hugshugshugs- I'll ask mom about it since she had basically the same thing and get back to you.

[hakamiah.livejournal.com]

One of my coworkers got one in the foot, and she said it hurt, but that it was worth it, so I assume it didn't hurt unbearably.

I got a couple of cortisone shots in the butt, ahaha. That was painless, though. That shit is magic, even if it can make you psychotic.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

No info on the pain, but - have you been shown all the exercises that can be done to alleviate plantar fasciitis? I developed it about ten yeas ago, and the exercises made a huge difference - I went from agony when walking to virtually no pain at all unless I was standing on my feet most of the day. Of course, mine could have been a mild case, so this might be irrelevant in your siituation, but I figured I'd mention it.

[monkey5s.livejournal.com]

Cortisone shots, especially in a limited-space area like your heel, hurt like a MO FO! The mass of drug has to get in there to interact with all of the inflamed tissue, so there has to be a lot of it. They can't do it faster because it has to go in bit by bit, to be sure the doctor is getting it where it needs to go.

Think of it this way. The drug, a LOT of it, has to go into an area that is already inflamed. The drug itself burns when it goes in, part of the thing it does as it begins working on the inflammation that is in place. Also, many of us have extra sensitive feet. So, there's a triple to quadruple ouch going on.

I would expect that the pain with be just as horrific regardless of the doctor administering it. But, I may be wrong. And, I have never had cortisone to the heel. squashy, however, has. You might ask her.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

How did he get through it? It takes a number of minutes. I don't know what I would have done if she kept ignoring my pleas to stop as the pain kept ratcheting up.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

Hugs! Ty. Lemme know--I'm trying to get all the info I can.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

I googled on cortisone shots and plantar fasciaitis last night and opinions seem to be all over the map on a lot of aspects. I'm just hoping she didn't rupture a nerve and make it worse--that seems to happen.

I got one in the arm when I was a kid for a severe case of poison ivy, and though more needle phobic then, I don't remember it being a bad shot at all--I would have remembered if it came anywhere near this one for the amount of prolonged pain.

[http://users.livejournal.com/lucid_dreamer_/]

I just asked mom. She said that they have to go really slow because of how the cortisone affects the body and that it is REALLY painful. I told her you had a root canal the day before that didn't hurt as bad-- and she said that sounded about right.

O_O;; scary

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

Ty--I am working on two kinds of stretches. Mine is not severe enough to warrant surgery, but does involve a slight bone spur and may need more than stretches and proper foot padding to make it go away.

I am increasing the amount of times a day I do the stretches. I asked the podiatrist to watch if I'm doing the stretches right since all she did last time was hand me the sheet about them. I wasn't putting weight in the proper foot while doing them so at least I got that amount of info out of her--hopefully that will help, because without some other kind of sedation I'm not doing that shot again, even with another podiatrist. I saw a website that had a couple additional kinds of stretches--any recommendations?

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

Ty--for the lead--I will go ask squashy. I got lots of conflicting info when I googled last night on pain levels of the shot, and whether or not it could be managed better, but I also got lots of conflicting info on whether cortisone helps or hinders healing outside of temporarily relieving pain. Sometimes the shot can rupture nerves, so I hope that didn't happen because it actually feels worse today, though nothing at all compared to the pain levels of the shot itself. So it may not have been the doctor's fault that it hurt so badly, but it certainly was that it took me saying stop at least 10 times before she asked me if I really wanted her to stop, and for her lack of concern about it afterwards.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

How did she get through it? I seriously couldn't. I was reaching for the doctor's hand by the time she finally acquiesed to my pleas to stop. I was in an altered state I guess, and I don't know if I would have been able to pull her hand and the needle off me or not, or stop myself from trying as well.

So seriously, I want to know how she made herself go through it? I need techniques.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

Is the rolling pin exercise appropriate for you? I used to sit at my desk all day with a rolling pin right beside my foot, and every half hour or so I'd work it under my foot and just roll it forward and backward, pressing down as I did so, for a while. It got so automatic that it didn't even feel like exercise, and I think the fact that I was doing it so many times a day is why the pain just about vanished completely.

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

Oh, excellent! Ty, hon! I will try that. (-:

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

Good luck. I hope it does some good.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

Can you get a topical anaesthetic for the injection?

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

It's really helped--thank you! I've been keeping a rolling pin under my foot at my desk at home and a can under my foot at work and rolling them periodically all week, and my pain is practically gone now. I've also been keeping up with my other stretches. I took a walk around the lake without pain yesterday. (-:

I have half a reply to our email chat done--will finish it soon.(-:

[lavendertook.livejournal.com]

She did use ethyl chloride and it did nothing to ease the initial injection, and of course nothing thereafter. If I ever decide to try this again with another podiatrist, I'll see if there is any stronger kind of topical they could use. If there isn't any, I'll want a local anesthetic injection, if there is any kind that can be injected quickly. I think any injection to that area will hurt like hell (I wasn't prepared for it at all), but it's the prolonged nature of the cortisone shot that makes it unbearable--I think more than the fact that the cortisone burns as it spreads. She only got a quater of it injected in about a minute--so it was going to be around a 4 minute or so ordeal. Plus I could feel her moving and adjusting it, so she wasn't very good at doing injections.

Right now, my foot is better from the stretches I've been doing, so hopefully I'll never need to try to this again. No 8 hour driving day distances for me anymore (which is what messed the fascia up so bad) unless it's an utter emergency--I will do all drives in smaller chunks.

[morgan-dhu.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear that the pain is easing up. Pain bad. No pain good.