dear patient. A person with chronic neck pain may benefit from receiving a cortisone injection during the initial stages of their treatment. Cortisone works by reducing inflammation around a joint, nerve, or other structure, which helps with pain and can speed up recovery. It’s commonly used to treat pain in a variety of joints, including the knee, elbow, shoulder, hip, and lower back, and can also be used, in some situations, for neck pain. Cortisone is often injected as a mixture with a local anesthetic. The anesthetic allows for near immediate but temporary pain relief if the injection is successfully placed, while the cortisone allows for more gradual but longer-acting pain relief as it takes effect. Doctors use cortisone to treat neck pain by injecting the steroid directly into the site of the inflammation. If strained muscles are causing your neck pain, the cortisone will work to reduce swelling in those muscles. If neck pain is being caused by the inflammation of a pinched nerve, cortisone will reduce the swelling and relieve the pressure on the nerve.