Steroid injections for arthritis can cause more joint damage than previously thought; try this natural method instead. The idea of body parts hurting and then feeling better with a steroid injection from your local healthcare provider has been around for years. It has been known that repeated steroid injections can damage joints. We are now understanding that steroid injections may cause more joint damage than previously thought. Is it possible that the symptomatic medical approach to joint pain is irreparably damaging our joints? While it is possible to replace a damaged knee or hip joint with a prosthesis, the mechanism of injury may be more insidious. To fully appreciate why a joint aches, chiropractors know that you must evaluate the entire person, rather than the joint to understand why they hurt. The current culture of primary doctors who encounter patients with joint pain immediately sending these patients to an orthopedic to inject the joint with a steroid may actually be fueling the business of joint replacements. While a steroid injection may reduce the pain, the poor mechanism of function that caused the problem can continue to damage the joint over time. The technology behind replacing joints has improved markedly. Sending these patients to a chiropractor first who understands the mechanisms of movement may be able to prevent the need for injections for relief as well as the future damage that can be caused by poor mechanical adaptations to movement. Chiropractors are uniquely positioned because of their knowledge of body mechanics and their understanding of joint dysfunction. Rather than treating the area of pain, they use manipulation and soft tissue methods to improve movement which can reduce joint pain and improve movement naturally. Rather than just evaluating the area of pain, they instead evaluate the patient as well as the painful part. Often, the source of the pain is from a different part of the body. This is quite common with conditions such as shoulder tendonitis, hip pain, knee pain, and even foot pain. Recently, the Atlantic reported on how steroid injections may be causing more harm than good. Perhaps, for joint pain, you should visit a chiropractor first. If a joint is irreparably damaged which most are not, they will then refer you to an orthopedic. The good news is, most patients will markedly improve with the chiropractor. Feel better in as little as one visit. Visit Charschan Chiropractic in North Brunswick and Scotch Plains, NJ A Warning From a Doctor Who Has Done Thousands of Steroid Injections for Arthritis The extremely common treatment might be causing more harm than previously thought. JAMES HAMBLIN OCT 17, 2019 Guermazi didn’t think more of it until the woman returned to the hospital six months later, unable to walk. “The head of her femur was gone,” says Guermazi, who is now the chief of radiology at VA Boston Healthcare System. The bone appeared to have simply vanished. The new mother needed a total hip replacement. “We didn’t know what happened, and still can’t know for certain,” Guermazi says. “But I feared it was related to the injection.” This is not a typical suspicion. Doctors have long considered a single injection of steroids—the type that come from the adrenal glands and modulate the body’s stress response—to be a pretty harmless way to temporarily relieve pain in a joint. The worst-case scenario was that the shot didn’t help the pain. Some people get temporary relief, and some do not. Such injections are done by podiatrists, rheumatologists, orthopedists, spine neurosurgeons, anesthesiologists, and others at major hospitals around the world. Read more