Written by the Phoenix Rehab hand therapy and physiotherapy teams. Last updated 2 October 2026.
After an injection · Singapore
Physiotherapy After a Cortisone or PRP Injection
The injection turns the pain down. It does not change why the pain started.
For steroid (cortisone), PRP and hyaluronic acid injections given for trigger finger, De Quervain’s, carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, frozen shoulder, rotator cuff pain, knee arthritis and heel pain. Hand therapy and physiotherapy for the weeks after the injection, at five Singapore clinics.
Your doctor gives the injection. We do not inject, prescribe or advise on whether you should have one. We train what the injection cannot. No referral needed.
Start here
Where are you right now?
The problem
Six weeks later, it is back
The pain went within days. For a few weeks you forgot about it. You went back to the keyboard, the badminton, the baby on one hip, the full grocery bag hooked over the same two fingers.
Then the click came back. Or the ache at the outer elbow when you lift the kettle. Or the shoulder that will not let you reach the top shelf, the same as before the injection.
The injection did its job. It calmed the irritated tissue. What it was never going to do is strengthen the tendon, change how you grip, open the stiff capsule, or alter the load that caused the problem. All of those are exactly where they were the day you walked into the doctor’s room.
The pain left. The reason for the pain stayed.
The weeks when pain is low are the weeks when a tendon can be loaded and a stiff joint can be moved, because pain is no longer limiting the work. In a randomized trial in frozen shoulder, an injection followed by supervised physiotherapy improved range of movement faster than the injection on its own (Carette and colleagues, Arthritis and Rheumatism, 2003). Spend those weeks resting the area, and the quiet ends with nothing built underneath it.
By condition
What the injection does, and what it leaves for you
| Condition | What the injection does | What it does not do, and what we train |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger finger | Settles the swollen tendon so it glides through the pulley again. | It does not change the grip and the repeated loading that thickened it. Tendon gliding, a night splint where it helps, and the grip and tool habits that set it off. |
| De Quervain’s | Quiets the tendons on the thumb side of the wrist. | It does not change how you lift the baby, hold the phone or wring a towel. A custom thumb splint, lifting technique, then graded loading. |
| Carpal tunnel | Reduces swelling inside the tunnel, which takes pressure off the nerve. | It does not change how your wrist sits at night or at the keyboard. A night splint in neutral, nerve and tendon gliding, and the workstation. |
| Tennis elbow | Dulls the pain at the outer elbow. | It does not strengthen the tendon. Progressive tendon loading, grip and forearm strength, and how you lift. |
| Frozen shoulder | Settles the pain, including after hydrodilatation, so the joint can be moved. | It does not stretch the capsule. Range work in the low-pain window, measured in degrees each visit. |
| Rotator cuff and bursitis | Settles the inflamed bursa above the cuff. | It does not strengthen the cuff or the shoulder blade muscles that keep the space open. |
| Knee arthritis | Steroid or hyaluronic acid can ease pain for weeks to months. | It does not strengthen the thigh or change how the knee is loaded on stairs. Quadriceps and hip strength, walking and stairs. |
| Heel pain | Settles the first-step pain in the heel. | It does not load the plantar fascia or the calf. Calf and arch loading, and footwear. |
| PRP into a tendon or joint | Aims to start a healing response in the tissue. | It is not a substitute for loading. Most PRP protocols protect the area early, then progress load over weeks. |
The shape of it
What the weeks after an injection usually look like
This is the usual shape after a steroid injection into a tendon sheath, nerve tunnel or joint. Your doctor’s instructions take precedence over anything on this page, every time.
- Days 0 to 2Stage 1 · Calm & ProtectRelative rest of the injected area, usually for one to two days. Some people have a flare of pain for 24 to 48 hours after a steroid injection before it starts to settle. Keep the joints around it moving.
- Days 3 to 14Stage 2 · Move & MobilizeRange, tendon gliding and splinting where it helps. Heavy loading of an injected tendon is usually held back for about two weeks. This is the usual point for a first appointment.
- Weeks 2 to 6Stage 3 · Rebuild & StrengthenProgressive loading while the pain is low: grip, forearm, cuff, calf or thigh, depending on where it is. Strength measured against the other side.
- Week 6 onwardStage 4 · Return & PerformBack to the keyboard, the racquet, the carrying, the stairs, tested at the load that caused the problem in the first place.
After PRP the shape is different. Doctors usually ask you to avoid anti-inflammatory medication and to protect the area for longer before loading starts. Bring your doctor’s instructions and we work inside them.
The first week
Is this normal?
Usually expected
- A flare of pain for a day or two after a steroid injection.
- Soreness or a small bruise where the needle went in.
- Relief that starts over several days rather than immediately.
- Facial flushing or feeling warm for a day or two.
- If you have diabetes, blood sugar readings higher than usual for a few days. Check more often and tell your doctor.
Contact your doctor
- Call 995 now: swelling of the face, lips or throat, difficulty breathing, chest pain, or a spreading rash soon after an injection.
- See a doctor the same day if the injected joint or area becomes hot, red and increasingly swollen in the days after, especially with fever or feeling unwell.
- Doctor the same day: blood sugar readings far above your usual range that do not come down.
- Doctor soon: a sudden pop or loss of strength in the tendon that was injected.
- Review soon: no relief at all by three to four weeks. The diagnosis may need another look.
Worth knowing: weeks later some people notice a small dimple or a paler patch of skin where the injection went in. Tell the doctor who gave it.
If it is not going to plan
It wore off. Before you book the next one.
Six weeks, sometimes three months. The pain is back where it was, and the question in your head is whether to have another one.
That is a question for your doctor, and a fair one to ask with the full picture. In a randomized trial in tennis elbow, people given a corticosteroid injection were doing worse at one year, with more recurrences, than people given a placebo injection (Coombes and colleagues, JAMA, 2013). Doctors also limit how many steroid injections they give into the same tendon or joint, because repeated injection into a load-bearing tendon can weaken it. If you are weighing a second or third injection, ask your doctor about both. A good doctor will welcome the question.
What an injection that wore off needs from us is measurement. Grip in kilograms, range in degrees, and the load at which the pain comes back, against your other side. That tells you whether the problem is weakness that can be trained, stiffness that can be moved, or something that needs your doctor to look again. Every first visit is one 45-minute Assessment & Treatment, $230, nett, no GST. If it has been months and nothing has changed, the Stalled Recovery Review is three appointments over three weeks with the same therapist, $690.
Bring the dates of each injection and what was injected, if you know.
The program
What it costs and what is in it
After the Injection Program, Stages 1 to 4
Per 45-minute appointment, nett, no GST. The After the Injection Program is 12 appointments, $2,760 in all. You pay for each appointment as you attend it. If you need more, your therapist shows you which stage criteria are still open, and each extra appointment is $230.
- An Assessment & Treatment first, at $230: what the injection quieted, what is still limiting you, and a written plan
- Splinting where it helps, shaped during the appointment for hand and wrist problems
- Range, tendon gliding and progressive loading, progressed on criteria
- Grip, range and strength measured every visit against the other side
- A home program, written down
- Your next review dated into the diary, with the same therapist
Graduation, Not Discharge. You finish when you meet the Stage 4 criteria at the load that caused the problem.
Who you will see
Matched by where the injection went
Finger, thumb, wrist and elbow sit with our hand therapy team. Shoulder, knee and heel sit with our physiotherapists. Every appointment is one to one with your therapist for the whole 45 minutes.
Yuna Zhuang
Principal Hand Occupational Therapist. Carpal tunnel and tennis elbow. Orchard, Serangoon and Tampines.
Nurul Nadzirah
Principal Hand Occupational Therapist. De Quervain’s and wrist ligament injuries. Orchard.
Jasmine Ang
Principal Hand Occupational Therapist. Trigger finger, De Quervain’s and thumb arthritis. Jurong East, from 20 October 2026.
Zita Sham
Principal Physiotherapist. Rotator cuff and shoulder stiffness, Achilles and the slow-healing foot. Orchard, Tampines, Jurong East.
Shiv Mohan Banka
Principal Physiotherapist. Shoulder and knee problems. Orchard and Tampines.
This program runs Stages 1 to 4 of the Phoenix Recovery Protocol. See also physiotherapy after surgery, hand therapy and all recovery programs.
Questions we get asked
How long after a cortisone injection can I start physiotherapy?
Usually within a few days, once the soreness from the injection settles, with heavy loading of an injected tendon held back for about two weeks. Gentle movement of the joints around it can start sooner. Your doctor’s advice comes first.
Can I exercise after a cortisone injection?
Gently, after the first day or two, and not the activity that caused the problem at full load. That comes back in stages, measured, once the pain is low enough that the work is not being limited by it.
Should I come before the injection or after?
Either works. Before, we can measure your baseline so the effect of the injection can be seen in numbers. After, the first appointment is most useful in the first two weeks.
Do you give injections?
No. Physiotherapists and hand therapists do not inject or prescribe in our clinics. Whether to have an injection is a decision between you and your doctor.
My injection did not work at all. Will therapy?
That is worth measuring rather than guessing. An injection that did nothing can mean the pain is coming from somewhere else, and finding that is the first half of the appointment. If we think your doctor needs to look again, we will tell you and write to them.
Tell us what was injected and when
Where the injection went, the date, and what still hurts or will not work. We will tell you which therapist treats it most often, which clinic they are at, and when the first appointment should be.
Timings and appointment numbers on this page are typical ranges, not predictions for any individual recovery, and your doctor’s instructions take precedence. Physiotherapists and hand therapists assess, treat, splint, exercise, educate and refer; doctors diagnose, inject, prescribe and order imaging. If we find something that needs medical review we refer you back to your doctor.
Where we are
Clinics across Singapore
SERANGOON
265 Serangoon Central Drive #04-269
S550265 · Lift C only
NE12CC13 Serangoon MRT
WhatsApp 8892 4121TANJONG PAGAR
10 Anson Road #02-77A
International Plaza, S079903
EW15 Tanjong Pagar MRT
WhatsApp 8227 7074JURONG EAST
2 Venture Drive #02-02
Vision Exchange, S608526
NS1EW24 Jurong East MRT
Opening 20 October 2026
WhatsApp 8242 7340What our patients say
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