How Australian podiatrists use corticosteroid injections

A cross-sectional survey of Australian podiatrists on their corticosteroid injection practices for common foot and ankle conditions, run by researchers at La Trobe University and published in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research on 11 September 2026.

Forty-five podiatrists took part and 33 completed the survey in full. It was approved by the La Trobe University Human Research Ethics Committee.

Frequency and interval. Respondents reported a mean maximum of three injections per patient per year, with a mean interval of three months between injections.

Ultrasound guidance. Use of ultrasound guidance differed by injection site:

Drug choice. Betamethasone 5.7 mg/mL was the most commonly used corticosteroid.

The research was completed without funding, and the authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Podiatrists are split roughly down the middle on ultrasound guidance. For every site surveyed, somewhere between two in five and one in two respondents used ultrasound. There is no consensus practice to measure yourself against on that question.

The reported ceiling was three injections a year, three months apart. Clinicians whose own limits sit well outside that now have a peer reference point, which is useful when documenting the reasoning for a repeat injection.

The survey describes practice and does not measure outcomes. A convenience sample of 45 cannot show which drug, dose, interval or imaging approach is safest or most effective. The figures are self-reported, and podiatrists who inject regularly are the likeliest to answer a survey about injecting, so the results describe the people who responded rather than the profession as a whole. With 33 full responses, each percentage rests on a small number of clinicians.

Australian podiatrists who inject report a mean ceiling of three corticosteroid injections per patient per year at three-month intervals, mostly using betamethasone, and are split on ultrasound guidance. It is a benchmark for practice and says nothing about outcomes.

For the comparative evidence on heel injections, see which needle for which heel.