Joint injections help relieve pain in the joints when other treatments aren’t working for you. One injection that helps ease pain and stiffness by lubricating the joint is hyaluronic acid. Joint injections the Innovation Medical Group Southwest Territory team uses most often contain corticosteroid medication.

Corticosteroids are potent anti-inflammatory drugs. They reduce inflammation in the joint that’s so often the cause of your pain. In some cases, your provider first removes excess fluid from the joint (joint aspiration) before injecting the corticosteroid. They can send the joint fluid to their on-site lab for analysis.

The lab technicians measure your red and white blood cell count (a high white cell count indicates infection). The lab can culture the infection to identify it so you get the most effective treatment. Lab tests on joint fluid can also analyze crystals in the joint that forms when you have gout (a type of arthritis).

Joint injections may contain a local anesthetic as well as a corticosteroid. The anesthetic works for a far shorter time than the corticosteroid but should give you total relief for a while.

Joint injections can help treat many painful, disabling conditions, including:

• Osteoarthritis
• Gout
• Tendinitis
• Bursitis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Ligament sprains
• Tendon strains

If you have one of these disorders or other types of joint pain and dysfunction, corticosteroid injections can be an effective, long-lasting treatment.

Joint injections are rarely the first option your provider recommends because less invasive therapies are often all most patients need. But if physical therapy, splints, or braces, and medication don’t work, joint injections are the next step.

The Innovation Medical Group Southwest Territory team administers joint injections to most joints, including the:

• Knee
• Hip
• Shoulder
• Ankle
• Elbow
• Wrist
• Base of the thumb

Smaller joints in your hands and feet may be suitable for joint injections as well.