Steroid Injections
Your foot and ankle are made up of many different bones, which are connected to one another with ligaments (strong fibrous connective tissue) and meet each other at joints.
For a variety of reasons, these structures and joints can wear down, become inflamed or injured and can be a cause of pain. A steroid injection allows your consultants to deliver medicines into or near a painful area or joint.
There are two medicines involved in this treatment when carrying out foot or ankle injections. You will initially receive a small local anaesthetic followed usually by an injection containing a corticosteroid:
- The local anaesthetic (bupivicaine) is used to block pain from the injected area.
- The corticosteroid (methylprednisolone acetate Depo-Medrone) is used to reduce swelling and inflammation in the injected area.
The local anaesthetic injection gives immediate relief while the slower acting steroid injection takes effect.
This can be repeated periodically if it works well and will allow you to progress with other treatments.
The aim of a successful foot or ankle injection is to ease your pain for up to a period of three months.
You will have a follow up appointment approximately three months after each treatment and it is recommended that you keep a pain diary before and after the treatment, so we can accurately assess the impact these injections are having.
