Postprocedure care. 1  Skin needling is well tolerated by patients but dryness, scaling, redness and swelling may be seen after treatment, lasting for several days or longer, depending on the depth of penetration of the needles. 2  Sun protection for several weeks is recommended.
Most injections typically take 24-48 hours to take full effect. If local anesthetic was given with the steroid injection, you may feel improvement relatively quickly. The duration of improvement varies. Some patients report months of relief whereas others find only a few days of relief.
I have also had quite a few injections into both shoulder joints and bursa. I find that I'll get more pain for about 24 - 48 hours as a reaction to the steroid but then over about 2 weeks the pain and stiffness settle down remarkably! I haven't had one yet which didn't work for me! Eventually I was referred for an operation which has given me a virtually pain free right shoulder.