Better served by waiting
TENNIS elbow sufferers eager to retake the court, return to the computer or get back to hammering nails have long looked to cortisone injections to bring blissful relief. Australian researchers have found the relief part to be real, but short-lived.
That blow to die-hard serve-and-volleyers comes from a study published in the Sept. 27 edition of the British Medical Journal that compared three groups of tennis elbow sufferers six weeks and a year after an office visit. One group got reassurances that the pain would likely ease on its own and instructions for avoiding activities that could aggravate the condition. A second group received eight sessions of physical therapy in six weeks and learned exercises to do at home. A third group was given a cortisone shot and was told to resume normal activities gradually.
The group who received the shot got quick relief. After six weeks, 78% of those in the injection group reported some relief of their pain, followed by the physical therapy group, among whom 65% felt better. In the “wait-and-see” group, 27% felt better at six weeks.
But a year later, 72% of those who got the steroid shot reported a return of pain -- a consequence, researchers surmise, of injury brought on by a premature return to work or play. Among the wait-and-see group and those who received physical therapy, all subjects reported either recovery or much improvement.
