Hello,
I have two injunctions today- one on each side. How long should I expect this to hurt? Is hurting normal?
Thank you. Feeling anxious.
It may take 24-48 hrs for pain to subside because it may be caused by the extra pressure the injected medication is causing in an already irritated area. As the medication absorbs & pressure is reduced, pain will likely go away. It can take several days for cortisone to work. In the meantime, try icing your neck using a thin towel between your skin & the ice pack. Gel ice packs are the best because they conform to the shape of your neck, however, you can also use a bag of frozen peas or corn. Ice 15 min. on & 45 off. If ice makes the pain worse, try heat or try alternating heat & ice.
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Thank you. I didn’t expect there to be this much pain so I am panicking. Did I make a mistake? Is it normal? (So far I just have an Ernest diagnosis).
I guess I am feeling very anxious because I expected to feel better today, not worse. Perhaps that was unrealistic. I am scared- did I do nerve damage? My dr is very conservative and I’ve seen him for awhile before today and the shots were permitted.
Thanks for listening and helping me feel less alone.
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We do have some members who’ve had the injections & felt worse afterward, but in most cases they’ve been helpful. I don’t believe the injections have damaged any nerves. Worst case scenario, the nerves are just more inflamed & irritated than before the shots.
Please try icing them/using heat or alternating ice & heat to see if that reduces your pain. Ice may hurt more when you first start using it but by the end of 15 min., for me anyway, it helps calm the pain. @Jules found heat worked better for her ES pain so it’s trial & error to see what works best for you.
Please let us know how you’re doing tomorrow. I hope you feel much better!
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Unfortunately, for me, it was a bad move. It spiraled my health. I do not have ES but vascular outflow obstruction. I will, never, ever, ever again do any type of injections. It was a trigger point injection of Depomedrol in my traps and levator scapula area. Hopefully, you will get relief soon. My reaction was so bad I ended up in the ER.
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I’m sorry it went so badly for you. This shot was lidocaine and cortisone only. My ligament is very tough so I think it was difficult to get in there. He said if I didn’t feel better I could come back for more. However, what threw me was they said- do you feel any better? Uh no, it just hurts. But I didn’t know if that was the shot or what.
I had my shoulder done and felt nothing but relief so that all added to my anxiety.
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How did you learn about your obstruction and what led you to the ER?
I’m just sore and don’t have much relief from how I felt prior. 
It’s a very long story which I plan on updating on here shortly as I just returned from Denver from meeting with Dr. Hepworth. It was a very long and painful journey . I had a severe reaction including weight loss, severe insomnia among other issues.
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So sorry that you didn’t get any instant relief, I would’ve thought the lidocaine should kick in soon, the steroid would take maybe a little longer…hope icing it helps. It doesn’t seem to work for everyone unfortunately 
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That’s really rough for you; I hope that your appt with Dr Hepworth goes okay
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@YoureNotCartwright - I’m sorry the injection hasn’t been helpful yet. As @Jules said, the lidocaine should have at least toned the pain down a bit, but we do know these injections don’t help everyone.
@Brandy - I’m really glad you’ve finally seen Dr. Hepworth. I’ll look forward to reading your update about that.
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Thank you. I am hoping the soreness subsides. I guess I am feeling a little dejected they didn’t being relief and it brought a flood of anxiety.
Im glad you said they may not work for others or you’ve seen that. What might that mean? My body just not responding to it or a misdiagnosis?
Thanks again.
@YoureNotCartwright - Most likely, it’s your body just not responding to the injections. For some people it is diagnostic but not for everyone. A CT scan is the best & most accurate diagnostic tool.
I am very sorry for the anxiety. I can totally understand why you would have been anxious when the pain got worse. ES is a bit mysterious w/ the way the symptoms come & go & can get worse then better. I’m still holding out hope you’ll get at least some pain relief from your injections. If not, you’ll know that’s not a workable pain relief treatment for you.
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Hi @YoureNotCartwright
did they inject the stylomandibular ligament it self?
I was under the impression that the calcified ligament would rub or irritate the nerves or venous structures and that would be the cause for pain and symptoms. And not itself be the cause of the pain/symptoms
Please forgive me if I misunderstand this at all, but was the injection to identify or rule out the ligament as the source of pain?
I also had a recent lidocaine and cortisone shot in my sternoclavicular joint, that felt uncomfortable at first, then some what pain free the next day, but on the second day it was back to major movement induced pain. I was told from the doc that “it was to rule out the specific area (S/C joint) from other potential causes in the area. If it caused short term pain relief, the lidocaine worked, if it caused longer term relief the cortisone worked.” In my case it was somewhat inconclusive, he said it was not a lot of cortisone and we could try again with more.
Hopefully they can gather good diagnostic info from the test, and get you closer to identifying what’s the cause.
I second the ice packs as well and for me personally it helped short term to take the edge off during those difficult days
Popsicle helped me numb the inside when my headaches would flare up, I liked the “ice cream headache”effect and could count on that to shake things up when I did not know how to deal with the pain.
Sending hugs and healing energy your way
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