Joint Injections Specialist

What are joint injections?

Joint injections are a treatment the Southeast Spine Care & Pain Management team uses for persistent joint pain.

The injections contain a powerful anti-inflammatory medication (cortisone) and a local anesthetic. The anesthetic numbs your pain for a short time, while the cortisone reduces joint inflammation to relieve pain over a more extended period.

Why might I need joint injections?

Joint pain is a common musculoskeletal problem, but most patients don’t need steroid injections to treat it. Medication, physical therapy, aquatic therapy, avoiding activities that make the pain worse, and treatments like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are usually very successful.

However, some patients find that their pain doesn’t respond to these treatments. Those with incurable conditions often find relief at the start but then find the treatments become less effective as their condition gets worse.

In these cases, joint injections offer relief from pain. They also help your joints last longer before needing invasive surgery like joint replacement.

What conditions do joint injections treat?

Joint injections can treat a variety of painful conditions, including:

• Osteoarthritis (OA)
• Gout
• Tendinitis
• Bursitis
• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
• Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
• Ligament sprains
• Carpal tunnel syndrome

Southeast Spine Care & Pain Management uses joint injections most often in the knees, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and ankles. Dr. Bosch can also inject small joints like the base of your big toe, your thumb, and even the smallest joints in your hands and feet.

Joint injections also effectively treat back and neck pain caused by facet joint arthritis. Facet joints join the vertebrae in your spine. Injecting medication into the facet joints relieves inflammation and pain caused by years of wear-and-tear.

What happens when I have a joint injection?

Southeast Spine Care & Pain Management generally does joint injections as an outpatient procedure. After numbing the injection site, Dr. Bosch uses imaging technology like fluoroscopy (a moving X-ray) to guide the needle’s path.

Using imaging ensures that the needle doesn’t damage the joint. It also enables Dr. Bosch to place the medication in the right part of your joint for the best effect. The joint injection procedure might take 15 minutes for a single joint or up to an hour for complex injections like those in the facet joints.

You can return home after a brief recovery period and continue with your usual activities. You should feel an immediate benefit from the local anesthetic, although this wears off quite quickly. The steroid acts over time so that you often experience reduced joint pain for many months.

If your joint pain isn’t helped by frontline treatments, contact Southeast Spine Care & Pain Management to find out about joint injections. Call their office today or book an appointment online.