Joint Injections
-
- Tweet
TX Primary Care Plus
Internal Medicine located in Plano, TX
A joint injection is a fast and nonsurgical solution for chronic pain and stiffness. At TX Primary Care Plus in Plano, Texas, internal medicine specialist Venkatesh Madhav, MD, and the team perform joint injections for people seeking targeted relief from joint pain. Steroid injections deliver anti-inflammatory medications directly into your affected joints. To learn more, call TX Primary Care Plus or schedule an appointment online today.
Joint Injections Q&A
What are joint injections?
Joint injections are nonsurgical treatments that contain a mixture of a numbing anesthetic and a corticosteroid. When injected directly into an injured or degenerated joint, these injections can relieve pain and improve function.
Combining joint injections with other treatments, such as physical therapy, allows your damaged joint to heal on its own. The doctors at TX Primary Care Plus frequently recommend joint injections to prevent pain while you complete rehabilitation exercises to improve your range of motion.
Who needs joint injections?
The most common reason people seek joint injections is to relieve pain and improve joint function from degenerative conditions, like osteoarthritis (OA). Osteoarthritis is the most common form of the condition, which causes chronic joint inflammation.
Osteoarthritis develops when the pliable cartilage that protects the joints starts to degrade. Without protective cartilage, the bones begin rubbing together. Along with causing pain, this lack of healthy cartilage limits the range of motion in your affected joints.
By minimizing inflammation and reducing pain, joint injections allow you to regain function of damaged joints.
What are the signs that I need joint injections?
Most individuals benefit from joint injections if they have arthritis. Once arthritis progresses, the condition can begin causing uncomfortable symptoms, such as:
- Chronic pain
- Swelling
- Redness
- Limited range of motion
- Poor mobility
- Redness
- Skin that feels warm to the touch
While arthritis can damage any of your joints, it’s most common in the knees, hips, ankles, hands, feet, neck, and shoulders. Fortunately, steroid injections can target any of these joints to deliver lasting relief.
How long do joint injections take?
How long joint injections take depends on how many you’re treating. In general, joint injections take about 20 minutes because your doctor uses X-ray guidance to target your exact area of pain. After your injections, the team at TX Primary Care Plus monitors you for a few minutes to make sure you don’t experience any abnormal side effects.
What happens after joint injections?
The anesthetic solution in the injection delivers immediate pain relief. However, once this temporary effect wears off, you can expect soreness and swelling in the affected joint. Over the coming days, the corticosteroid begins to take effect to reduce inflammation around your joint. That typically results in less pain and swelling to improve your range of motion.
To learn more about joint injections, call TX Primary Care Plus or book an appointment online today.
