Questions & Answers · Regenerative
How long does a cortisone shot last?
A cortisone shot typically relieves joint pain for six weeks to six months — with wide variation by joint, condition, and how advanced the arthritis is. Two numbers matter as much as the duration: most joints have a practical limit of 3–4 shots per year, and when each shot lasts shorter than the one before, the joint is telling you something.
What changes the duration
- How advanced the arthritis is — earlier disease tends to hold relief longer; bone-on-bone joints burn through it fastest.
- The joint itself — weight-bearing joints (knee, hip) typically get shorter mileage than shoulders or thumbs.
- What you do with the window — a shot plus strengthening outlasts a shot plus hoping.
The shrinking-relief signal
Six months, then three, then six weeks: that trajectory is the joint's progress report, and it's how patients quietly slide into a shot-every-visit routine that ends nowhere good. When the intervals shrink, it's time for the bigger conversation — PRP's longer arc for the middle chapters, or the replacement conversation when the imaging says so. We'll tell you which chapter you're in.
Medically reviewed by Keith W.V. Johnson, MD, FAAOS · Updated September 28, 2026