If you suffer from a medical condition or injury, you may be a candidate for joint injections. These injections stimulate your body’s natural healing ability without introducing something new to your body, which reduces risk of rejection or adverse effects. Wonderful as that sounds, you may wonder how well this treatment method works, how long joint injections last, whether or not it’s worth it to do this, and more.
It’s important to be well-informed about any type of treatment you decide to do. That’s why we’ve compiled some of the most frequently asked questions about therapeutic injections in this blog post.
Bear in mind that this is in no way to be taken as medical advice or a substitute for consulting with a medical professional. This blog can give you generic answers to some of these frequently asked questions, but for specific medical advice, you will need to consult with your medical team in order to obtain personalized answers and treatment recommendations.
What Do Therapeutic Injections Treat?
Therapeutic infections can treat all sorts of different conditions throughout your body, from your knees to your shoulders, ankles, wrists, and other joints. You may also get injections in your hips, but there would need to be an x-ray or ultrasound in order for the medical professional to know where to inject. They can also be used to treat tendons, ligaments, muscle tissue, spinal conditions, and more.
Some common issues that therapeutic injections treat include:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Gout
- Tendinitis
- Bursitis
- Osteoarthritis
- And more
How Do Joint Injections Work?
Joint injections work by reducing the inflammation in a joint. This is done by injecting medication directly into it, which helps to alleviate pain quickly for longer lasting results. Many people prefer injections to oral medications, as oral medications usually take longer to start to work and don’t last as long.
How Long Do Joint Injections Last?
They typically last weeks or months at a time. We here at Life Health Medical Center generally give our patients joint injections every 3-4 months. In order to know how long you can expect the relief from your injections to last, consult with your medical team.
How Often Can Joint Injections Be Given?
Generally, you are only allowed no more than 3 injections within a year. Depending on the injection, you may experience pain relief right away or it may take up to a couple of weeks to start to notice an improvement.
What Are The Downsides To Therapeutic Injections?
Wonderful as injections are to relieve your pain and help your body to heal, there are some downsides to them. People usually experience swelling and soreness for a few days afterwards. It’s recommended you use the window of relief to address the underlying cause of your pain, as through exercise and physical therapy.
What Is Getting An Injection Like?
During the injection, you’ll lie down and the skin over the joint is cleaned with antiseptic solution. Then, you are injected with a local anesthetic. The doctor may use x-ray guidance to insert the needle into the appropriate area. This treatment takes about 10-20 minutes.
How Long Do You Need To Rest After A Joint Injection?
You may experience minor soreness for a few days which can be treated with ice and OTC painkillers. As with everything medical, how long you’ll need to rest and the side effects you may experience depends on your conditions. You may continue physical therapy after receiving joint injections.
Therapeutic Injections In Northern Utah
Life Health Medical Center uses non-steroidal injections in order to reduce your pain and inflammation. Our injections improve blood flow, assisting in the natural healing process. Bear in mind that joint injections are not a cure for your ailment, but they do provide relief that can last weeks or months at a time.
However, if no solution has been found to your pain but a joint injection helps, this tells doctors that you likely have a joint issue. This can help them get to the root of the problem.
Our amniotic allograft injections treat many different conditions, including joint problems. Check out our previous blog, What Are Amniotic Allograft Injections And What Do They Help With, to learn more about this type of joint injection.
Contact us here at Life Health Medical Center to learn more about the treatments we provide and how we can help you on your way to a healthier, happier lifestyle.
