Guide To Treating Costochondritis

Corticosteroid Injections

Doctors sometimes advise corticosteroid injections for patients if other conservative treatment methods have failed to relieve pain. Typically, these injections can provide long-term pain relief that lasts from one to three months, and work by reducing inflammation. The doctor will first give the patient a numbing medication when performing this injection. This is most often given as a small injection into the affected area. Patients afraid of needles should ask their doctors about getting a topical numbing cream can be rubbed onto the skin to reduce the pain of injections. Cold spray may also be used during the injection process to numb pain, and once the skin is numb, the doctor will provide a second injection with the corticosteroid. This medicine is injected directly into the affected site.