How would cortisone injections work, are they a fix or just pain relief, my shoulder is fractured so the doc says, could be damage to the cuff muscles, how long could it take to heal naturally?
I really want to avoid any sort of operation.
 
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Cortisone can provide short term pain relief and alleviate inflammation for an injury. If there is damage to your rotator cuff an injection may assist your pain management. However since you also have a fracture it may be difficult to identify rotator cuff damage. Your fracture should take 6-8 weeks to mend. Taking appropriate medical advice, I would begin physiotherapy as soon as possible. Rotator cuff injuries that do not require surgery may take a number of months to heal. An appropriate physio regimen will help to speed your recovery. Always take appropriate medical advice before taking any course of action.


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You may need to hold off on the physio until the fracture has healed - do not undertake any sort of exercise without specific instruction from your doctor,

 

As above it may also not be possible to determine if the rotator cuff is damaged until then.

 

Cortisone injections can be useful in reducing  the inflammation associated with inflammatory joint and tendon problems.  It will definitely not speed the healing of  fracture and it is not indicated for management of  a fracture.

 

Even when used for treatment of inflammatory conditions, cortisone injections are not without risks and are usually reserved for cases that failed to respond to other measures within 4-6 weeks.

 

In other words, there is no way to get around the 6 week healing process for your fracture. When you get to the point where the bone has healed, start physio and get re-evaluated, If at that point it is clear there is damage to the cuff, cortisone injection could be am option.

 

  Most rotator cuff injuries -- if in fact you have one -- can be treated without surgery. S you are getting way ahead of yourself in worrying about that.

 

If you would like a consult with the best shoulder specialist in the country, see:

 

https://www.bumrungrad.com/doctors/Mason-Porramatikul

 

 

I had a complex one; where the rotator cuff, and A/C joint all suffered from impact injury when hit by a motorcycle, and I also landed heavily.

   Luckily the Dr was knowledgeable enough to cease the Cortisone after 2 weeks,

after which it was being referred to as an 'old injury' and Cortisone becomes futile.

 

There is another avenue regarding the pain however (which is what I underwent) and that was the use of a TENS machine.

 

There's a slow build up with the intensity over the (weeks/months) period of treatment, increasing  in line with your tolerance levels.

Eventually, applying the TENS at a much higher intensity allowed the pain to be masked for up to 12 hours... and then you do the TENS again...repeating... (done at home)

 

I was eventually operated on, for the cuff, and then twice on the A/C. 

The operations commenced after a series of ultrasounds were performed. On the screen one could see clearly. at the point of the rotation that displayed 'fouling' of the cuff rotation, when their was a clear indication of the cuff 'jumping' on the video. The cuff was physically damaged by the accident.

During the 3rd operation, the clavicle was also cut short by 22mm, and then the A/C joint rebuilt. The whole geometry of the shoulder was kaput from the accident.

I only bring this up about the ultrasound because (if) you get one done; make sure you take a blankCDR/videotape etc along, otherwise you might cop a Report that has to rely upon a series of screenshot photos (useless)