Cortisone injections for hip and knee pain lead to more complications than previously thought, research has found.

The anti-inflammatory jabs are used by athletes to mask pain, and to treat symptoms of osteoarthritis.

But the study by Boston University School of Medicine found that the treatment could speed up a joint's disintegration and force patients to have total knee or hip replacements.

Researchers found 10 per cent of their patients given injections in the hips in 2018 suffered complications, along with four per cent of those who had the jabs in the knees.

These can include stress fractures, progressive osteoarthritis or even the collapse of joints.

Study leader Dr Ali Guermazi, of Boston University School of Medicine in the US, said: "We've been telling patients that even if these injections don't relieve your pain, they're not going to hurt you. But now we suspect that this is not necessarily the case."

"We are now seeing these injections can be very harmful to the joints with serious complications."