I would prefer to hear any tips you may have, albeit I am sure there are loads of horror stories out there.
I had an MRI last Wednesday and it was determined, that in order to get some relief from pain (10/10 scale at night), a cortisone injection in my neck would help. The issue(s) is at C5,6,7 and causing horrible radiating pain down my left arm.
My injection is scheduled Tuesday afternoon, and we fly to London from Boston on Thursday night…spend an entire day in London touring the city and then fly on to Cape Town.
I’ve never taken any meds stronger than Advil, so my little evening trips on Vicodin have been quite the ride. Having said that, I am doing this as a last resort so that I can travel on a trip of a lifetime with my family.
Thanks everyone and Happy Holidays.
I’ve had a couple cortisone shots–one each in the knee, hip, and shoulder, and they’re really not all that bad. You’ll get some topical anesthetic sprayed onto your skin (it’s really cold), and then you’ll just feel some pressure from the needle, maybe the occasionally pinch. Given that this is going into your neck, you’ll have the advantage of not having to look at the injection (if you’re afraid of needles, that is). To be perfectly honest, the most intimidating part is the gigantic needle, but you’d be surprised how little it actually hurts–the shot in my hip actually kind of tickled. You have very few nerve endings deep down where the needle is going, so just relax and let the doctor do his thing.
Afterwards, you can expect some “fullness” in the joint, and you’ll know pretty quickly if the injection will provide pain relief or not. For me and the mystery injuries that I was attempting to have treated, the injections did not help, but on the other hand I’ve heard of some people that swear by these things and absolutely couldn’t do without. I’m not sure whether flying will have any bearing on the effectiveness or any side effects of the injection. I suspect it’s a non-issue, but be sure to ask your doctor before you are treated.
I hope the cortisone helps with your neck pain!
I’ve had one in my shoulder and my knee, no issue at all after injection. They don’t hurt much but make your joint feel full.
I hope it helps so you can enjoy your trip of a lifetime with your family.
I’ve had three cortisone injections in my shoulders. One was many years ago when I got fed up with not being able to put a shirt on without pain. This had been going on for years. That one injection solved the problem almost instantaneously. Pain never returned.
The other two were about a year ago, one to each shoulder, as a result of two different falls. I forget the diagnosis but it was basically severe inflammation in the rotator cuff area. Again, relief was instantaneous, and with two months of following the rehab protocol, I was back to normal and I have no more pain. Tennis and swimming are fine now, whereas before I could barely sleep I was so uncomfortable.
This is a long way of saying that it worked for me and was a much more desirable path than surgery, which was the likely route if the condition did not improve. Good luck. Injections were a non-issue. Like any other shot.
Nothing to worry about… I’ve had several cortisone shots - I don’t see why that should stop you from flying… or shopping 
I had one shot, in my left 2nd metatarsal. I was in the pool swimming 30 minutes later, I can’t imagine air travel will be a problem. The doc only asked that I do not run or ride for two days to allow the medication to absorb. My toe looked nasty, very "swollen’ but aside from a little discomfort during the shot there was no pain at all.
Received the shot at 10:30am, feeling relaxed and took a nap. Finger’s crossed. Doc said something funny, while I was laying down,
“gosh, I love treating athletes…they’re almost see thru.”
Not sure if should take it as a compliment or what, but it lightened the mood as I was super nervous!