Cortisone shots seem almost miraculous in their pain-banishing properties for sore tendons and joints. But a major new review article says they actually make tennis elbow worse and have long-term consequences when used for other tendon injuries too like Achilles tendon and sore shoulders.

For tendonitis, especially, cortisone seems to change the short-term biology of pain, but doesn't heal the underlying structural damage, which is usually due to overuse and not inflammation.