PROCEDURE

Cortisone Injection

A tiny shot of diluted steroid into one inflamed acne cyst. It flattens that spot in a few days. It treats the bump, not the acne.

Reviewed by Dr. Schwarz, Board-Certified Dermatologist
Last updated: 10/22/2026
Targeted steroidInflammation
Editorial illustration for Cortisone Injection, based on the entry’s treatment or equipment reference.

Key facts

Treats

Inflamed cysts, keloids or alopecia patches

Recovery

Usually no downtime

Treatment plan

Repeat schedule depends on the lesion

Typical cost

About $50–250 per visit

What is it?

It is injected into a lesion.

An intralesional steroid calms local inflammation or scarring.

It differs from joint injections.

It is not a systemic steroid treatment.

The diagnosis matters.

Infected or uncertain lesions should not be injected.

Side effects can last.

Skin thinning, fat loss and pigment change may persist.

What it treats

Inflamed acne on light skin. The spots sit in a patch of pink, and the ring of redness around each one is easy to see. A few have a yellow-white head, and the skin between them is dry and flaking.
Strong evidence

Acne

Flattens a painful cyst within days.

A raised, smooth, firm scar on the upper chest on light skin. It is shiny pink-red and hairless, and its edges spread well past the small mark it grew from.
Strong evidence

Keloids

Softens and flattens raised scars.

A round smooth bald patch on the scalp.
Strong evidence

Alopecia Areata

Regrows hair in patches.

A smooth, dome-shaped lump about two centimetres across on the upper back on pale skin, with a tiny dark pore at its center and faintly pink skin over it.
Moderate evidence

Epidermal Inclusion Cyst

Calms an inflamed cyst.

dark keratin plugs in dilated pores on the nose and adjacent left cheek, with the face turned to the person’s right on light skin.
Not effective

Blackheads

Not for clogged pores.

Acne scarring on light skin. Small sharply cut pits and broad shallow dips across a cheek, several sitting inside faint flat pink marks, with no active spots.
Can make it worse

Acne Scarring

Can cause dents in skin.

Treatment areas

Treatment areas
Map options
Areas treated

Cortisone Injection

Treatment site varies

The specific lesion, scar or affected patch determines the treatment site; there is no fixed body distribution.

Skin tones

Lighter skin

Low risk

A small dent is possible.

Medium skin

Some risk

Lighter patches can show.

Deeper skin

Some risk

Lightening and dents are more visible; low doses help.

How it works

Cortisone Injection mechanism diagram. Medicine is placed in a lesion: A clinician injects an appropriate corticosteroid preparation. Inflammatory signaling decreases: The steroid reduces local immune and inflammatory activity. The lesion may soften or flatten: Response depends on the condition, dose, and placement.
Diagram explanation

Medicine is placed in a lesion: A clinician injects an appropriate corticosteroid preparation. Inflammatory signaling decreases: The steroid reduces local immune and inflammatory activity. The lesion may soften or flatten: Response depends on the condition, dose, and placement.

Schematic illustration. Technique and response vary. This explains a mechanism and does not specify treatment settings.

Before your treatment

The week before

Do not pick: Do not pick, squeeze or heat the spot.

Day of treatment

Before you arrive

Clean skin: Wash your face and skip makeup on the area.

Arrival & prep

The provider checks that the spot is an inflamed acne cyst and not a boil.

Treatment

The skin is wiped with alcohol.

A very fine needle goes just into the bump and a small amount of fluid goes in, under 10 seconds per spot. The sting is sharp for a few seconds, worse if the cyst is already tender, but most people rate it lower than they expect. Numbing does not help much — the needle stick is the whole procedure.

Before you leave

A tiny red dot, sometimes a small raised bleb that flattens within an hour.

After your treatment

First 24 hours

Days 1 to 2: The bump softens and the ache fades.

Days 2–7

First few days: A pinprick mark, sometimes a small bruise, fading over a few days.

Days 3 to 7: Most cysts are flat.

Time to results

24–48 hours for a cyst

How long results last

Treats only that spot

Risks

Side effects are uncommon at these low doses. In a survey of 100 dermatologists, nearly 89% said fewer than one in a hundred patients came back with a problem.

Dent in the skin

A shallow depression where fat and collagen have thinned. It is dose-related, which is why a low concentration goes on the face, and it often improves over months. About half the clinicians who see it report it lasting past six months, and it can be permanent.

Lighter patch of skin

A pale ring or spot, more visible and slower to fade on deeper skin tones. It usually recovers, but can take many months and can persist.

Visible small vessels

Fine red lines after repeated injections into the same spot.

Cost

Typical cost

About $50–250 per visit

Pricing

Roughly $50 to $250 per office visit in the US, usually billed as an office visit plus a procedure charge rather than per spot.

Insurance

Insurance often covers it, since acne cysts count as medical rather than cosmetic.

Alternatives

Editorial illustration for Incision and Drainage, based on the entry’s treatment or equipment reference.
If speed matters

Incision and drainage

Opens the cyst and empties it rather than calming it. Relieves pressure straight away, carries more scarring risk, and is kept for cysts too large or too fluid-filled to settle with a shot.

Tablets — stock illustration
If a larger area is affected

A short course of oral steroid

Calms many inflamed cysts at once instead of one, with body-wide effects. Used for a widespread flare, not a single spot.

A white blister pack photographed flat on a white background, holding eight white oblong capsules in two rows of four under clear domes. ACCUTANE is printed in blue capitals on the empty left half of the foil.
If you can wait for results

Isotretinoin

Treats the acne that keeps producing the cysts, over months. An injection buys days — this is the answer to needing several of them.

Tablets — stock illustration
If a larger area is affected

Oral antibiotics

Bring down widespread inflammation over weeks. Slower than a shot on any one spot, and aimed at the whole problem rather than the bump.

Hydrocolloid shown in recognizable white flat resealable patch pouch with small red accent.
If you prefer home care

Hydrocolloid patches

They flatten surface whiteheads and stop picking. They do nothing for a deep cyst.

Cold compress — stock illustration
If you can wait for results

Ice plus benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid

Modestly calms a spot over several days. Slower and less reliable, but free and safe.

Questions

How fast does a cortisone shot work on a cyst?

Softening begins within 24 to 48 hours and most spots are flat by day three to five. That figure traces back to one small 1983 trial — it matches what dermatologists see but has never been tested at scale. The mark left behind takes weeks longer, and the injection does not speed that up.

Will it leave a dent?

It can. A shallow depression happens when the dose is too strong, so a lower concentration is the main protection. It is uncommon — most dermatologists see it in well under one patient in a hundred — and it often fills in over several months. But it is not reliably temporary. About half the clinicians who do see it report it lasting more than six months, and occasionally it is permanent. That is why you ask what concentration is being used.

Can I get one before an event?

Yes, the most common reason people ask. Aim for three to five days ahead so the swelling has time to drop. A same-day injection rarely looks better by that evening.

Does it stop acne from coming back?

No. It treats only the spot it is injected into. Preventing the next cyst needs a daily treatment plan, and the guidelines call this an add-on.

Is it safe on deeper skin tones?

Yes. The risk is a lighter patch at the site, more noticeable and slower to fade on deeper skin tones. A lower concentration reduces it, so ask.

Is this approved for acne?

Not in the United States, strictly speaking. The FDA labeling lists intralesional use for keloids, alopecia areata, discoid lupus and others. Acne is not on it. Off-label use for an acne cyst is routine, legal and recommended by the American Academy of Dermatology, but almost nobody says it out loud. In the UK, NICE withdrew its recommendation in 2026 after UK-licensed triamcinolone injections stopped being available — a supply and licensing decision, not a safety one.

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