Joint injections are nothing new, although many patients hesitate to sign up for them because they worry about their effectiveness. While the injection process may cause some pain, the resulting treatment will allow you to finally get relief from your chronic joint pain. At CRPM, we believe that the marriage of technology and medicine can provide a tremendous amount of help. That is why we promote ultrasound-guided injections, an innovative method of delivering accurate medication to the precise location in your joints. So how do joint injections benefit from ultrasound guidance?
How Do Joint Injections Benefit From Ultrasound Guidance?
Conditions Treated with Ultrasound-Guided Injections
If your doctor recommends an ultrasound-guided injection to treat your chronic pain, you are likely to have one of a few particular conditions that require advanced orthopedic care. This procedure is often used to treat:
- Tendonitis, especially Achilles tendonitis or hamstring tendonitis
- Tennis elbow
- Knee joint pain or stiffness
- Tendon and joint pain that can be treated with corticosteroids
Using ultrasound technology, doctors can guide injections into very fine and precise positions within the body, helping to deliver numbing medication to the exact right spot.
How Ultrasound-Guided Injections Work
You will need to schedule an in-office appointment for your ultrasound injection, which is performed in a quick 20 – 40-minute procedure. During this time, your provider will administer injections using ultrasound imaging, which helps us avoid blood vessels and other areas of the body we do not want to pierce. This makes for a much more accurate and much less painful delivery of medication into your affected joints.
The procedure is incredibly fast-acting, with most patients in and out of the office in just 30 minutes. This makes it a great procedure for someone with a busy schedule or who is afraid of needles and doesn’t want to spend any downtime at the doctor’s office.
Are Ultrasound Injections Effective?
Many people worry that the side effects of ultrasound-guided injections outweigh the potential benefits. We make sure to inform our patients that there is a very small chance – less than 1% – that the corticosteroid will cause a flare-up of pain, rather than numbing the pain. However, the treatment will eventually go into effect, cutting off some of your most debilitating symptoms.
While you may start feeling the results of your injection within an hour, it will take a couple of days for the result of your injection to take full effect. You can expect the pain remedy to last for several weeks, giving you the freedom of painlessness and mobility so you can get your life back in your own hands.
How Many Injections Do You Need?
Depending on the condition you are looking to treat, the location of the condition in your body, and the number of injections available to you, your doctor may recommend that you sign up for multiple corticosteroid injections. However, we do not recommend getting more than 3 ultrasound-guided injections per year. Your medicine is good to last for months as you work on additional methods of treatment.
Make sure you stay in constant communication with your healthcare provider who will ensure that you are receiving the best treatment possible. We pride ourselves on our combination of medical tactics and technology, which assist us in providing long-lasting solutions to your joint pain.
Stop Your Agony with Ultrasound Injections
Emerging symptoms of arthritis typically include joint pain and stiffness. This can make it increasingly difficult to perform everyday tasks and live life to the fullest without being in great amounts of discomfort. Fortunately, our ultrasound-guided corticosteroid injections will offer a wave of relief, helping you feel comfortable and flexible again. To start with your own journey to better joint health, contact us online or give us a call at your earliest convenience.
