02/25/2026
Cortisone Shots for Tennis Elbow: A quick fix... or a long-term trap? 💉🤔
When you’re dealing with the nagging pain of tennis elbow, the promise of a “quick fix” through a cortisone shot is incredibly tempting. While steroids are excellent at masking pain in the short term, the long-term data is eye-opening.
A landmark randomized controlled trial published in JAMA (Coombes et al., 2013) followed 165 patients for a full year to see how cortisone injections actually compared to a simple placebo.
📊 The 1-Year Results:
• Full Recovery: Only 83% of the cortisone group reported being “completely recovered or much improved,” compared to 96% in the placebo group.
• Recurrence Rate: The cortisone group saw a staggering 54% recurrence rate, while the placebo group only saw 12%.
Why does cortisone often make things worse?
The research suggests that cortisone provides short-term relief at the cost of significantly higher recurrence and potentially worse outcomes after one year. This often happens because:
• Masked Pain: Treating the symptom rather than the structural cause can lead to returning to activity before the tendon is actually ready.
• Tissue Impact: Cortisone may actually impair the natural healing of collagen fibers and weaken the structural integrity of the tendon matrix.
💡 The Clinical Takeaway:
Don’t trade short-term comfort for long-term health. The most effective way to “fix” a tendon isn’t by hiding the pain—it’s by rebuilding the tissue’s capacity through Progressive Loading and specialist-guided rehabilitation.
Swipe through today’s Research Snack to see the evolution of the evidence! 👉
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✈️ SHARE with a colleague or friend who is still trying to “shot away” their stubborn elbow pain!
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