Cortisone injections really freaking hurt!

Now, I don't consider myself a wuss when it comes to needles. At least not a very big wuss. I don't like getting them (who does, right?) and I look away when the sharps start getting unwrapped from their hygienically sealed wrappings but I'm not one of these people who has to lie down in the doctor's rooms when getting vaccinations or having a blood test. I don't faint or require a cold (or warm) compress for my clammy forehead. Nor do I need a brown paper bag to breathe in and out of, or a vomit bucket.

I've had all the jabs for travelling around the Mekong and through south east Asia; heaps of blood tests throughout pregnancy; novocaine pricks in my gums for root canal therapy and to have wisdom teeth pulled; and I'm a blood donor, which involves a much larger needle than the toothprick needle used for a cortisone injection.

So I wasn't expecting it to hurt so bloody much!

After nearly eight months of carrying and handling a growing baby, the tendons in my right wrist had finally given up and blanketed themselves in a warm cocoon of inflammation that required immediate relief.

The cortisone injection took only a few minutes but after only a few seconds I was gritted my teeth, breaking the second commandment and feeling nauseous.

Suddenly I became that person. A bin was slid across the floor to sit beside my foot "just in case". I looked into it to see a couple of used tissues, a discarded yoghurt tub (strawberry) and an apple core. I felt even more depressed.

But it got worse. Before I knew it, I was flat on my back on the carpet, with my feet raised onto a chair. The only explanation I can come to is that cortisone is some seriously potent stuff, made worse when injected directly into a swollen and extremely painful area. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Cortisone is a potent anti-inflammatory (that works a treat!) and is localised rather than absorbed into the bloodstream so it's ok for nursing mothers (that's a question I have to ask about every medication at the moment).