You hurt your neck? Do not rush to go to your doctor and ask them to give you steroid medicine such as prednisone, says a new study group.

There is a strong tendency to use corticosteroids in the treatment of neck agony because of the qualities that have to cope with an infection, he told Reuters Health, the signatory to Article Dr. Brian H. Rowe of the University of Alberta in Edmonton. However, evidence that they actually help very few.

Steroids in oral or injectable medications are very strong short-and long-term side effects, he says, so it should not be prescribed unless there is clear evidence that the benefits outweigh the risks.

For this study, the Dr. Rowe and colleagues searched the medical literature and identified 10 excellent clinical studies that compared the administration of corticosteroids, with or without antibiotics, the administration of placebo (placebo) or standard therapy for patients with sore throat. The studies included 1,100 patients.

The group says in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine that corticosteroids accelerate the alleviation of pain, on average, about four and a half hours. After 24 hours, patients who had used a lower level of pain at one point on a scale from 0 to 10.

For people who have strep throat, steroids have had a faster relief of pain 45 minutes faster. The Dr. Rowe says that these benefits are not sufficient to justify the widespread use of steroids to treat sore throats. It is unlikely that patients will be able to differentiate one unit at the level of pain, he says.

None of the studies analyzed did not indicate serious problems associated with steroid use. However, as added by Dr. Rowe, the repeated use of steroids can have serious side effects such as weakened bones, noting that many patients may have a sore throat several times in one year and thus receive large amounts of steroids. In the short term effects of steroids include swelling, irritation of the stomach and nervousness.

However, he says, it is likely that these drugs are particularly useful for patients with highly contaminated, neck with severe pain due to infection with streptococcus.

"There seems to be effective," he says. "We need to be granted to all patients? I would not say. There are other alternatives, "says Dr. Rowe. "Can the patient take Tylenol, do crystal to drink plenty of fluids and rest!".

Source: Reuters Health