i ***HATE*** needles. the doc just pumped my left knee full of cortizone, lidocaine and one other pain killer i think, using a 3 inch needle buried up to the hilt. he says if it lasts atleast 6 months im good, anything less and he is shipping me out the door for surgery to see exactly what is wrong. ive got 12 hours off being very carefull till the pain killers wear off or i risk popping my knee out of joint and the steroids will kick in anywhere from 12 hours to 3 days from now. hopefully this works.