It depends, my rheumy wouldn't do it. He will only use cortisone as a last resort. What is helping you so much? Maybe in time it'll help this last finger too.

My rhuemy gives them all the time. I love...love.love the shots. From my toes to my fingers, cortisone shots are heaven!

Lin

I've had my hip, knee, and right index finger done. The knee it was a godsend. The hip was worthwhile but given the choice I wouldn't do the finger again. Either it was the person doing it or it's the fact that there are so many nerve endings in a finger that it was so much more painful and to top it off it didn't give much relief if any at all. I have to think it was the person doing it though as the relief for the other two were astounding.

This is really a late reply,but I had to answer.I put off shots for a long time because I was afraid of them. I finally got one in my right index finger and it was very helpful.It hurt a little for a few seconds ,and then was swollen and sore for about a day and a half,but since then,it has been great.That was about 6 or 7 weeks ago. I dont know how long they last,but I will definately have more when I need them.

I've had shots in 6 finger joints and ended up with a cortisone flare. Extremely painful!

RCross, what is a cortisone flare?

I've had injections in one finger and one elbow. Both times, after the novocaine or whichever 'caine they use, wore off, I had unbelievable pain in the joint. An absolutely stupifying, immobilizing amount. After that wore off in a couple of days, my finger was worse for about two months, better for two, then worse than before the injection. My elbow improved for quite awhile, maybe 6 months or so, but then again became worse than it originally was. It'll be a cold day in hell before anyone gets near me again with the stuff.

I'm sure I am an outlier on this. Many people get good releif, and many doctors love to give cortisone shots. Like everything, though, there are two or more sides to the story.

My mom has RA as well and her fingers are mostly affected in the left hand and she has Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The Rheumatologist wanted to put a cortisone injection in her finger at her last visit that I was not present at. The step sister who was with her refused it. Her finger is a bit better now with a brace and the Rheumatologist placed her on Trexall. This is similar to MTX but it is one pill instead of several. She is taking the pill twice a week now. It seems to be helping. The only thing I can compare the injection with is I had a cotrisone injection in my knee a while back for stiffness and swelling. Thought I would pass out from the pain. Now they have medication they can spray on to numb the area. I also had a cortisone injection now that I remember when I fell a while ago and dislocated my finger. That injection hurt like blankety blank blank then. What are your other options?

I had surgery on my right middle finger for trigger finger, and I never got full mobility back, until my rheumy gave me a cortisone shot.
The Doctor that did my finger surgery gave me 2 shots after surgery (over the course of a year) and my middle finger remained swollen, stiff, and unable to bend past a 90 degree angle. When I made a fist, the middle finger was not closed with the rest. Instead, it would stick out.

Once the Humira started working on my inflammation and my hands looked normal again, my rheumy gave me the cortisone shot for my finger. And guess what? It worked. I have no inflammation and the finger now closes with the rest of them when I make a fist.

I've also had cortisone shots in my wrist and my ankle and have had tremendous improvement with both. However, I still experience sporadic, severe pain in my ankle. I went back to the rheumy and she did not want to give me another shot because she said the pain is in my tendon, and cortisone shots in tendons are tricky. She said my pain is not severe enough to try it.

I'm also trying to remember if my rheumy gave me the wonderful cortisone shot in my finger or my hand, cuz I've had both. The one she gave me worked great.

good luck!