A Steroid Injection for Bone-on-Bone Arthritis? Not So Fast
When elective surgeries resumed in New York City in June, it was a relief for patients with severe hip or knee arthritis who had made up their minds to have joint replacement surgery. Many people needed to wait when the procedures, considered elective, were put on hold due to the pandemic. Some patients were in so much pain, they wanted to have the procedure as soon as possible. But a number of them were surprised to learn they would have to wait, in some cases up to three months, because they had received an injection of a steroid or hyaluronic acid in their joint at another doctor’s office. There are two issues for patients. First, the injections do nothing to relieve pain when someone has bone-on-bone arthritis and is a candidate for joint replacement, or if they provide any pain relief at all, it is very short lived. The other problem is that anyone who has received a steroid or hyaluronic acid injection must then wait approximately three months from the date of their l...