[Albmaleaf]

At the Take care injury clinic over the years we have had some horror stories of sports men and women & members of the general public that have had two or three cortisone injections in the same area to try and solve a problem. The success rate in these cases has been very low and the GP who administers the injection has to be pretty acurate & we have found that there are many other treatment paths to take before cortisone. All i am saying is just be carefull. Cortisone can sometimes be seen as a miracle cure but there have been many cases of cortisone abuse the main one is the proffessional football scene of the 1970 - 80s where players have been given injection after injection and can now hardley walk and are crippled with Arthritus & other ligament & joint problems

 

[dahill]

Is a cortisone injection legal if competing? I thought it was a steroid.

 

[Hollywood]

Is a cortisone injection legal if competing? I thought it was a steroid.

It is a steroid but I think it's use is restricted rather than banned because it does have valid medical uses. Technically I believe cortisone is defined as a catabolic steroid - not an anabolic steroid - i.e. it isn't the type of steroid used by body builders. However, having said that, there is some suspicion that this year's Tour De Farce testosterone outcome might be the result of cortisone usage...

I've had a cortisone injection once in my knee - and I think it helped. Certainly I've not needed any arthroscopy - so I'm a happy bunny

 

[geordiebezza]

I'm not an expert but my understanding is that steroids is basically the name given to a whole class of hormones - called steroids because they are "sterol-like" (ie. fat-soluble). Anyway, mostly they are catabolic in that they can help break down things in body to supply us with energy etc. But some eg. testosterone (male sex hormone) and nandralone are anabolic ie help build muscle and stuff which is why they're abused. Cortisone injections are synthetic steroids used for injection into joints because they are supposed to halt the body's inflammatory response which is what causes all the swelling, redness and heat after an injury. In answer to the question about whether its illegal, I think it is supposed to be permitted but must be declared in writing, with full details - but I'm not 100% on that one - I think the International Olympic COmmittee have a list somewhere...