Joint Injections to Help Relieve Your Disabling Symptoms

An injury on a joint can adversely affect the quality of your life, making the basic tasks you used to enjoy doing impossible. In such instances, a joint injection is one of the treatment options to help you enjoy your life free of pain. Joint injections in Oakhurst entail administering local anesthesia and medication directly into the painful joint to help relieve pain and minimize inflammation. The three common types of joint injections your physician is likely to recommend are corticosteroid injections, hyaluronic injections and nerve blocks. Fortunately, the medical professional will suggest the option that might best suit you, depending on your condition or that closely matches your therapeutic goals.   

Major joint injections

• Facet joint injections. The injections are ideal when you have back and neck pains resulting from sciatica, spinal stenosis, a herniated disc or spondylolysis.
• SI joint injections. Injury on your sacroiliac joint (joint connecting your legs to your pelvis) may result in shooting pain down your legs and lower back.
• Hip joint injections. As the joint that bears your body’s most significant weight, your hip joint is susceptible to stress. Therefore, the injections might help relieve your symptoms and enhance your hips’ mobility.
• Knee joint injections. Your knee joint is vulnerable to injury. An injury on the joint makes your routine tasks impossible to handle. Thus, the injection might help minimize inflammation and enhance the joint’s functions.
• Shoulder joint injections. The most common issues the treatment addresses include arthritis, dislocation, frozen shoulder, injuries and bursitis.

Can you take other prescription medications alongside steroid injections?

Your physician might recommend the injection alongside other medications. However, the medical professional will request a blood test to ensure that your blood is not too thin for the treatment if you take anticoagulants (blood thinners). The test will minimize your risk of bleeding into the affected joint. Your doctor might also not recommend the treatment if you have an infection in your treatment area.

What should you know about steroid injections before you go for the treatment?

You should know various things about a steroid injection before you contact your healthcare provider for the process. For instance, the shot has a high chance of increasing your sugar levels, especially if you have diabetes. Therefore, you should discuss with your doctor before the treatment to discuss possible ways to help monitor your sugar levels after the injection. You might also need to talk to your doctor if you are hemophiliac (inability of your blood to clot appropriately) to lower your risk of bleeding into the joint.   

You are at risk of damaging your body tissue if you have too many injections in the same treatment area. The healthcare professional might recommend a maximum of three steroid injections per treatment site in a year, depending on your symptoms. You might also note that you will need to minimize over-exercising your joint approximately two weeks after a steroid injection to prevent damaging your tendons. However, your physiotherapist will advise you on gradually starting and continuing with exercises to help set a balance between the therapy and rest.     

Contact your doctor for more inquiries about joint injections and how you can benefit from the treatment.

Jennifer Eonflux