The American College of Rheumatology defines a joint injection as a slightly invasive treatment that relieves joint inflammation temporarily. Joint injections can treat the pain and inflammation in your joints. At the same time, your rheumatologist can use it to determine if the pain is truly coming from your joints. If you want to see if you are a candidate for joint injections, here’s what you should know.
Although receiving injections of cortisone is generally safe, it still has risks to consider. You can still experience prolonged negative effects. Before you get joint injections, you should know the risks that come with them. One of the major concerns is getting several steroid shots in just one spot. This might hasten the deterioration of your soft tissue. If you get injections for an extended period, you may develop joint degeneration. This may affect those who have mild or moderate arthritis at a young age. If you are diabetic, cortisone shots can increase your blood glucose for a short while. Remember that receiving joint injections is your decision. If your pain prevents you from performing your daily activities, these injections may help you significantly.
You are a good candidate for joint injections if your pain is coming from your joint inflammation. Conditions such as tendonitis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout all feature the inflammation of joints. Even if the swelling is not obvious in conditions like osteoarthritis, steroid injections can still relieve the pain.
While it’s true that joint injections can treat one affected joint in one appointment, you should have the right kind of joint that hurts. Your joint specialist can administer cortisone into your spine, knee, shoulder, and hips. The injections can also help the small, painful joints in your hands. If you have plantar fasciitis (pain at the bottom of your foot) or Achilles tendonitis (pain behind your ankle), you shouldn’t get joint injections. Cortisone could make the tissues in these two areas more prone to tearing and damage.
Joint pain can be extremely debilitating. To relieve it, you can consider weight loss, physical therapy, or even a change in diet. These are helpful, but they take longer to produce favorable results. If you need immediate relief, you are a good candidate for cortisone injections. Through them, your pain can go away in just a day. Through this quick but short solution, you can do what you need to do. You can set your knee surgery at a later time, perform your therapeutic exercises, or even attend a special gathering.
Joint injections have different results. You can experience relief for weeks or even months. Some people may not get any pain relief at all, while others can receive permanent results. At Valley Spinal Care, we screen our patients well first before we start administering joint injections. Please visit our clinics in Scottsdale and Phoenix, Arizona, for an in-person consultation. You can also call us at 602-788-4200 (Scottsdale) or 602-368-3578 (Phoenix). That way, we can help schedule your appointment or answer your questions about our joint injection packages.
